Harry Potter and the Summer he will never forget
by Dumbledoreschild
Summary: REVISED...Have you ever wondered what it would be like if the Professors met Aunt Marge? New powers, new family and new adventure creates a summer that Harry Potter will never forget. RR
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter and the summer he'll never forget

Matching Dates

It was another hot and muggy day on Privet Drive; the air was so dense and humid that you could hardly breath.

'Five more weeks just five more weeks,' Harry thought to himself as he lie on his bed in the smallest room in number 4.

'Five more weeks and I will finally get out of this prison and go home, back to Hogwarts.'

Though due to the events that occurred at Hogwarts (or to be more specific the Department of Mysteries) Harry wasn't sure whether or not he really did want to return, but Hogwarts was his home, it was the only place were he felt safe and the only place were he felt like he was loved…for the first time. All he knew was that any place was better then the Dursleys.

Hogwarts and Number 12 Grimmauld Place are the only true homes that Harry has ever known. But without Sirius there Harry could not return to Grimmauld Place. He could not bear to see the empty, dusty house that once imprisoned his Godfather. Sirius hated that house.

But, then again, remembering that disaster with Dumbledore in his office, he could not go back to Hogwarts and face that man either. He was in such a predicament.

Harry just laid on his bed, starring at the ceiling for hours at end, thinking about Sirius, reliving that terrible night at the Department of Mysteries and watching Sirius fall through that curtain for the one thousandth time that summer, and thinking about what life would be like if he were still alive.

He would probably be at Grimmauld Place right now, talking to Sirius about all sorts of things: Quiditch, his parents, what he was like when he was Harry's age (etc…)

It was then when Harry was violently pulled out of his daydream and was forced to once again face the truth…Sirius is dead…he is gone…and there is nothing that he nor anyone else could do to change that…and once again he was alone.

"Why?" whispered Harry, "why did you have to take Sirius? Why did you have to take Sirius?"

But at this question there was no response. There was nothing but dense silence and that painful question just looming around in his head; the question that haunted his dreams and woke him in the night, covered in cold sweat, breathing heavily, with tear stains on his face.

The next morning dawned and Harry felt as if he had been tied down onto his bed by bricks and boulders of substantial sizes. Instead of fighting against the weight, he simply lay on his bed thinking about the dream that he had just experienced that previous night. Again, his reverie was interrupted when he heard an annoying bat like screech from the door of his bedroom.

"Get up you lazy bum, and get down stairs Uncle Vernon wishes to speak to you."

Harry did not answer. He pretended that she did not exist. He had done this so many times that he actually began to hope that if he imagined it enough she would just disappear with a little pop.

But there was no such luck Aunt Petunia started pounding on the door like a mad women until Harry had no choice but to acknowledge her.

"I will be right down," Harry yelled back at his door. He heard a heavy sigh and at last the clump and creeks of the stairs signaling her leaving.

Harry lazily opened his eyes and pushed himself off of his bed (with great difficulty) and started to walk toward his door when he heard a squeaky little voice from behind him.

"Hello Harry Potter having a good summer sir?"

Harry wiped around to see none other than Dobby the house elf. His eyes were like two big brown baseballs, and his ears looked like they were two wings of a bat. He was still wearing a pillowcase (not the old disgusting one used in the second year, this one was died red with yellow and gold stripes with a roaring lion on the front, clearly a Gryffindor fan) and he must have been wearing at least seven pairs of socks according to the size of his feet.

"Hi Dobby" said Harry a little gloomily.

"Why does Harry Potter sound so sad sir? And why is mister Harry Potter's eyes red and wet?"

Harry must have been crying in his sleep again last night so with his sleeve he quickly wept his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" asked Harry

" Well, Dobby heard about what happened to Harry Potter and came to visit to him, to give him some company and to ask sir a question."

"What is your question Dobby?" asked Harry sounding little bit of impatient.

"Well sir Dobby wanted to know what Harry Potter say to Headmaster Dumbledore when he returned from the Department?"

"Why do you ask?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Dobby does not wish to pry, but I ask Harry Potter this question because ever since that night that Harry Potter and the Headmaster Dumbledore returned to the school Headmaster has been very quiet and has been looking sad in the eyes!"

"That…well…it was just…it was just something between him an I that will stay between him and I" said Harry feeling rather guilty and angry at the same time.

"Dobby did not mean to offend Harry Potter, Dobby just wondering what…" But Dobby was cut off by another ear splitting screech from his aunt.

"You had better go Dobby, and thank you for your company I…I'll see back at school." However, just as Harry was about to turn his doorknob Dobby gasped.

"What, what is it, what happened?" Harry asked a little taken off guard.

"Dobby almost forgot to give Harry Potter letters from his friends." Dobby then pulled out a few letters addressed to him. "Well Dobby will be leaving now, Dobby will see mister Harry Potter in September" and with that Dobby bowed so low that his nose was touching the ground and then disappeared with a slight pop.

Harry was just standing there holding the letters in his hands and he was just about to open the first one when he heard Uncle Vernon shout,

"BOY YOU GET YOUR BUT DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Harry rolled his eyes, threw the letters down onto his bed and made his way down to the kitchen were Uncle Vernon was sitting at the coffee table with a newspaper folded in front of him and a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. He was looking rather impatient. While Aunt Petunia was busy washing the dishes from breakfast.

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"Boy, tomorrow Aunt Marge will be stopping by for a three day visit."

"And what may I ask does that have to do with me? You just send me off to my room anyways."

"BOY DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!" Uncle Vernon shouted, his face turning a light shade of purple.

" Sorry…please continue" Harry said trying to look and sound as innocent as possible.

"Well, the pipe in the guest room has burst and the entire room is now soaked from ceiling to floor. So, for Marge's stay here she will be sleeping in your room," continued Uncle Vernon clearly trying as hard as possible to control his anger.

"WHAT, then were am I supposed to sleep?" asked Harry, his anger rising quickly.

"BOY YOU HAD BETTER SHOW ME SOME RESPECT!" Uncle Vernon shouted, his face as purple as a ripe plum by now. " You will be sleeping in either the soaked guest room or your stuffy old cupboard under the stairs, and I am warning you now boy, if something 'freaky' happens like it did last time, you will be thrown out onto the streets and you will NEVER step under this roof again…are we at an understanding?"

"Yes sir," was all that Harry could say because he feared that if he had said anything else he might have exploded. Harry just turned and stormed out of the kitchen and past Dudley who was currently sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the television, stuffing his face with caramel corn.

Harry went straight to his room, slammed the door, and threw himself onto his bed. As his body hit the bed he heard the distinct sound of paper crumbling, and then he remembered…his letters.

Harry instantly sat up and grabbed the letters. He had no idea why he was so exited, possibly being away from the 'real' world had gotten him home and friend sick. He grabbed the first letter and quickly ripped it open, form the look at the incredibly neat hand writing it was a letter from Hermoine,

Dear Harry,

At this very moment I am at the Burrow with Ron and his family, we all miss you terribly. Mom and dad are away on business so Professor Dumbledore thought that this would be the best place for me to go…

Harry's anger began to rise at the mention of Dumbledore's name. 'How could he keep something as big as the prophecy from me,' he thought, 'I thought I could trust him, I wonder what he has in store for me next… a twin sister… no wait, he's going to tell me that I am the last remaining descendent of the rich and I must take over the kingdom or it will be destroyed…'

Harry's mental ranting was abruptly stopped by the distinct sound of all twelve of the locks residing on his door being re-locked. 'Whatever,' Harry thought and returned to the letter.

…well everything is fine here I am so nervous about how I did on my O.W.L.S I hope I did all right, I know that you did fine. Just keep your chin up, there are only a few more weeks left of vacation until we are back at school. Oh speaking of school, I have already finished my summer homework and am currently trying to persuade a certain stubborn red head to start his. Well we all miss you and hope to see you soon.

Love, Hermoine

Harry folded up the letter and placed it in a red wood box on the night stand next to Harry's bed. It is were he keeps all of the letters from his friends. He then picked up the next letter and began reading,

Hey Harry,

Everything is fine, Hermione is here and she is completely driving me bonkers. She has been trying to get me to do my summer homework…I mean, honestly, who does she think she is. But the weird thing is that she is different, she is actually starting to care about what she looks like. She started wearing make-up and she does not look half bad. Well getting off of that subject, Fred and Georges' joke shop is a HUGE success so far (mum still doesn't approve though) and Percy is still being a gigantic git and not apologizing for the way he treated mum and dad. Oh and speaking of family, those muggles have better be treating you right, because if they aren't you can owl me and I will teach them a lesson or two…

At this Harry could not help but smile. Just the thought of Ron, face red with furry, running at Uncle Vernon… 'I would pay good money to see that,' thought Harry with a chuckle.

…Well hope to see you soon and make sure you owl me and Hemione your O.W.L.S scores as soon as you get them, well I mean after you read them of course. Hermione is going completely BALLISTIC.

See you soon,

Your friend, Ron

Harry had completely forgotten about the O.W.L.S. With all that has happened in the previous year the O.W.L.S results did not seem that very important.

He set the letter in the box with Hermione's and picked up the last letter. He turned it around to open it but stopped when he saw what seal was closing it. He would recognize that seal anywhere, it was the Hogwarts seal.

"What could they possibly want?" Harry let himself ask out loud as he, out of pure curiosity, broke the seal and opened the letter

Dear Mr. Potter,

As you know, you took your O.W.L.S exam during your 5th year here at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You were also told that you would be receiving your scores on these particular exams during the summer holidays, while reading your results and your essay part of the exams I came across something very interesting that I wish to confront with you. Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Nymphadora Tonks, and I will be arriving on the 29th of July and we will be staying until the 31st of July to discuss your career choices.

Have a nice day.

Sincerely,

MinervaMcGonagall

Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School

Transfiguration professor

Harry had to take a second to let this information sink in before he completely understood what was going to happen.

'The 29th,' thought Harry, 'what's today?'

He got up and went over to his calendar that was hanging on his wall between his dresser and his bed. His eyes got wide in shock as he read that today was the 28th and that meant that they would be coming tomorrow, but tomorrow was also the day that Aunt Marge was coming to visit.

"Ohhhhh wow," said Harry in complete and total disbelief.

Again, he heard the locks on his door that had previously been locked being un-locked and he watched as Aunt Petunia entered the room.

"Get your things and move into the guest room, the cupboard under the stairs is filled with Dudley's school supplies!" she said not looking at Harry with her most commonly pursed lips.

"Fine, just let me gather my things."

It did not take long for Harry to gather all of his things up. He picked up Hedwig's cage after emptying all of his possessions from the loose floorboards and safely locking them in his school trunk. He dragged the trunk and the cage down the hall and kicked open the door to the guest room. The room was absolutely flooded.

'This is great, this is really special,' Harry thought to himself as he entered the room and heard a disgusting squish from under his shoes.

'Well you always have wanted to take swimming lessons,' said an annoying voice in the back of his head that for some strange reason sounded like Hermione.

"OH shut up," replied Harry.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. Chapter 2: The Arrival

Chapter 2: The Guests Arive 

Harry tossed and turned all night, but this time they were not dreams about Sirius that were haunting his sleep. He kept getting disturbing images of Aunt Marge and Professor McGonagall screaming at each other over what they thought about cats and dogs while Professor Dumbledore and Dudley were talking about their favorite treats, and Professor Snape and Uncle Vernon were wearing neon pink robes (Do NOT ask) skipping around the house singing something that was too slurred to understand.

Harry quickly jolted upright, screaming when he came to the part of the dream where Professor Dumbledore was asking Dudley to come to Hogwarts and work with Harry. "This can't happen" said Harry quickly breathing. He threw off his sheets, swung his legs over the bed and stepped onto the floor. He got a disturbing sensation of cold water spilling over his feet but he just ignored it and quickly made his way across the room to his dresser. He opened the third drawer and picked up a spare piece of parchment and a quill. He made his way over to his desk (which only had three legs) and quickly scribbled down a short note to Professor McGonagall.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I know that you and the others are supposed to come to my house tomorrow, but the thing is that tomorrow is not a very good time. So I was just wondering if we could reschedule for another time this summer. My Aunt Marge is coming over tomorrow and she does not like... well lets just say she does not like our kind. If there is any possibility I would be most thankfull for it.

Harry Potter

Harry folded up the letter and made his way over to were Hedwig was sleeping peacefully in her cage. He lightly tapped on the cage bars until she opened up her big blue eyes and then Harry opened the cage. She jumped sleepily onto his arm and pronounced an annoyed type hoot. "I know this is a bad time but this is urgent. Take this directly to Professor McGonagall, she should be at Hogwarts." Hedwig held out her leg for Harry to tie the letter and then pecked him annoyingly on the shoulder. With that, she stretched her wings and soared out the window. Harry watched as she was swallowed by the light of the moon. 'Please say she can reschedule' Harry thought to himself and laid back down to try and finally get some sleep.

Harry woke to the distinct sound of a beak tapping on glass...'a beak tapping on glass' thought Harry 'what would a beak be doing tapping on glaSS?'..."Hedwig!" Harry jumped out of bed (once again ignoring the below freezing water that has now made a puddle around his once warm foot) and opened the window to let his owl in. "I am SO sorry Hedwig, I must have fallen asleep before you got back." Hedwig snapped her beak threateningly at Harry before sticking her foot out to reveal a letter. Harry quickly untied it from Hedwigs foot and gave her a treat before putting her back in her cage where she nestled her head under her wing and driffted of to sleep.

Harry walked over to the bed and ripped open the letter,

Dear Mr. Potter,

I apoligize for the inconvenience but tomorrow is the only available time for our meeting we will be arriving at 12:oo noon, have a good night.

Sincerly Professor McGonagall Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School

Harry slowly closed his eyes after reading the letter for the third time. He crumpled the letter into a little ball and threw it at the nearest wall before he fell onto the spring mattress with a thump. 'This is not going to be pretty' were Harry's last thoughts before he once again drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Harry was once again violently pulled from his slumber by a bat like screetch form Aunt Petunia yelling something about breakfast and starving to death. Harry slowly opened his eyes not wanting the 29th day of July to come, but he realized that it had come when he looked up at the clock on the wall that read 10:37AM. Harry shot up form his bed for the second time, 'one hour and a half, one hour and a half before all heck will break loose, this is going to be a summer that I will never forget.' Harry made his way lazily to the kitchen where Aunt Petunia was fixing breakfast, Uncle Vernon was drinking his coffee while reading the morning paper and Dudley was stuffing his face with what looked like Harry's breakfast.

"Good morning" said Harry in a first attempt to get everyones attention, when that did not work he just decided to be up front with the situation. "I have some news that you should all know about!" said Harry in a second attempt that failed miserably. Instead of listening to Harry, Uncle Vernon decided to start up a conversation with Aunt Petunia in hopes that Harry would shut up.  
"I just got a letter from Marge" pronounced Uncle Vernon "What did she say dear?" replied Aunt Petunia "Well, she has decided to come a little bit early, she said in her letter that she was going to be arriving at 12:00 noon instead of 5:00PM"  
"WHAT! Did you just say 12:00 noon?"  
"Yes boy," replied Uncle Vernon still looking at his newspaper like he had not a care in the world "she will be here promptly at noon and no later so you had best get you manners and your attitude into shape"  
"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, there is something that you should both know and I don't think that..." Harry was begining to say urgently while trying to control his temper but was cut off by Uncle Vernon.  
"BOY, get your butt over to the sink and help your Aunt load the dishes"  
"But"  
"DO NOT BUT ME, HELP YOUR AUNT NOW!"

Harry decided to give up and Help Aunt Petunia with Dudley's filthy dishes from his own breakfast. When he was completly finished he looked up at the clock that read 11:52AM. Everyone was going to be arriving in exacly eight minutes. 'This is going to be very interesting, I wonder how the professors and Tonks are going to be coming, there are so many ways to travel. What am I going to say, what am I going to do..." Harry's thoughts were cut short by the sound of the door bell. Harry looked up at the clock that now read 11:56AM. 'Here we go' thought Harry before Uncle Vernon yelled at him to go answer the door.

Harry made his way down the hall and opened the front door to reveal Aunt Marge. She was still as fat as he had remembered, with a carpet bag suitcase in one hand and the leash holding her ugly Bull dog who was barking madly in the other. She was wearing a button up, pladd shirt with a long trench coat and a long black velvet skirt. "Hello Aunt Marge" said Harry trying his best to be polite.  
"Your still here boy...shame, take this." Aunt Marge ordered, throwing her carpet bag suitcase and her long trench coat at Harry who caught them with a scowl on his face. Aunt Marge waddled down the hall and opened the kitchen door. Harry started to make his way to the living room when he stopped dead in the door way. He dropped Aunt Marges things and stared with his mouth slightly open at the sight in front of him.

Standing right in front of the fireplace were none other than Professor Snape, Tonks in the back, Professor McGonagall in the middle, and Professor Dumbledore standing in the front with a slight smile on his face.

"Hello Harry"

...TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Chapter 3: An Awkward Entrence

Chapter 3 an awkward entrance 

"Professors...Tonks... Hello...I-I" Harry started but was cut off by Aunt Marge, who sounded more like a howling dog than a screeching bat like Aunt Petunia did, screaming for the bottle of brandy. "Coming Aunt Marge" replied Harry, not daring to take his eyes off of his newly arrived guests.

"Ah, your aunt is here, the one that you had managed to inflate a few years ago I presume?" asked professor Dumbledore with a bite of amusement hidden in his voice. He was staring at Harry over his half moon spectacles, his blue eyes interestingly sparkling.  
"Yes sir" Harry answered finally turning his head away in embarrassment.  
"The aunt you blew up to the size of a hot air balloon because she insulted your parents...This is going to be fun!" Tonks said with an evil grin as she added in the last part. Harry did not exactly know what to expect by this comment but he knew that it had to be bad because every time she got a look like that on her face, it meant trouble. Today Tonks had long, waist length hair that was a shocking pink, with choppy, blood red bangs.

Professor McGonagall was surveying the room as though it was a disgusting, dirty pigpen. Harry noticed a distinct grimace from her when she looked at all of the pictures of Dudley, in his stripped polo shirt. She was wearing a long, sleek, black dress with a dark green velvet cloak wrapped around her. Her hair was in one of its famous, skin tight McGonagall buns and she was wearing a pair of square glasses that made her look the part of a strict woman that should not be messed with.

Professor Snape on the other hand had no sort of emotion on his face at all. His skin was still as pale as a ghost, his hair was still a curtain of black grease framing his face, and his eyes were still like two deep, dark holes of blackness. You could tell that he would rather be ANYWHERE else but where he was. He loathed Harry and Harry loathed him all the same. They could care less about each other. He made no eye contact with Harry but stared distractedly out of the window, looking as though he was waiting for the day to finally end.

"WHERE IS THAT BRANDY BOY" Barked Aunt Marge, pulling Harry from his deep train of thought, and he could have sworn that he heard her say something that related to the words 'sick him'. His summary must have been correct because only a few seconds later Marges ugly bulldog came running out of the kitchen, barking like mad. Harry jumped as it made an attempt at his ankles.  
"Get away from me you stupid dog, back off," said Harry angrily as the dog made another annoying snap at his feet. At this point Tonks stepped forward, her wand at the ready, and pointed it at the rabid dog. Then with one simple flick a bright blue light covered the dog, and silence fell in the room. A moment later the blue light vanished and all that was left on the floor was a brightly, rainbow colored teapot.

Harry looked down at the teapot and then up at Tonks with a wide grin stretched across his face. "Thanks Tonks!"  
"Unbelievably Harry that was not for your own well being it was for mine and my poor ears" replied Tonks, walking back to her position, rubbing her ears as though they were ringing. Harry's grin only grew wider at this action and then it immediately fell when he looked up to see all his two aunts, his uncle, and his cousin standing dumbly in the doorway. Harry could not figure out whether he wanted to laugh out or cry more.

"Who are these people boy?" Asked Marge suspiciously "Well these are..." began Uncle Vernon who was quickly cut off by Marge.  
"I did not ask you did I? I asked the boy"  
Harry looked back and forth between the two parties at least three times before he realized that he was asked a question.

"Huh...Oh ya...well this," said Harry indicating Professor Dumbledore, "is Professor Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of my school, St. Bruteses." Dumbledore gave a polite decline of his head. "This," continued Harry pointing out professor McGonagall, "is Professor Minerva McGonagall, she teaches Manners at St. Bruteses." At this comment Harry received the one raised eyebrow look from McGonagall but just carried on to Tonks. "This is Nymphadora Tonks, she...she takes care of all of our medical needs"  
"Just call me Tonks if you please" said Tonks, she had never really liked her first name, and she said it never fit her personality.

"And who may I ask is this tall, dark, man of mystery, hmmm?" Asked Aunt Marge while batting her eyelashes in Snape's direction. It took all of the power that resided in Harry not to bust out laughing at the look of love at first sight on his aunts face and the look of utmost loathing and disgust on Snape's face. It seemed that Tonks was having the same amount of difficulty that Harry was having because she had tried to look away from the scene, her eyes welling with water as she also tried to keep from busting out laughing. Harry also could have sworn that he saw a slight smirk escape McGonagall's face, Harry had only seen her smile or smirk a few times in his lifetime.

"Well...this is Professor Severus Snape and he is the...drill sergeant at my school, he does his best to whip us into shape so to speak." Harry could not bear to meet Snape's eyes at this choice of occupation because he knew that if he were to look up he would meet the famous death stare from his least favorite professor. Either that or Harry was afraid that if would look into his professors eyes he might see Aunt Marge batting her eyelashes and he just might loose it.

"I like an able bodied man" called Marge in a husky, righteous sort of way "well what are you waiting for boy introduce us"  
"Oh sorry" Harry whimpered "Professors this is my Aunt Marge, my Aunt Petunia, my uncle Vernon and my cousin Dudley"  
"Yes yes all good...move," said Marge as she roughly pushed past Harry and walked straight to were Snape was standing. Snape reluctantly took a step backwards looking at Marge as though she was an insane bug that needed to be squashed quickly before it took any of his blood. Dudley absentmindedly waddled around the professors and turned on the television after picking up a half finished bag of chocolate chip cookies. But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon stood right in their exact places like two potted plants, their mouths opened slightly and their eyes registered nothing but pure and 100 percent shock. For they, unlike Dudley and Aunt Marge, knew who these people were, but they did not want to find out what they wanted.

Professor McGonagall took a few steps forward so that she could make her individual presence known, and she addressed the Dursley's as though they were naughty children who needed to be taught a lesson. "I and my fellow colleagues will be occupying your house for the next few days for the purpose of Mr. Potters education. We will be studying his home life. This is of course necessary for the career path that he wished to follow. We will be taking note of everything that goes on and around this house and when I say everything I mean everything. All we require is houseroom, now if you will excuse us, we have a few matters to clear up with your nephew." McGonagall turned away from the Dursleys, who still had their mouths hanging open dumbly, and addressed Harry. "Potter do you have anywhere privet and quiet were we can go"  
"Well...um...yes but." began Harry "But what Potter"  
"Well...do you mind getting a little wet?"

...TO BE CONTINUED

A/N I know another cliffhanger but I promise I will update as soon as possible. I just got back from vacation so that is why this chapter took so long. Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming I want to know how I'm doing. Thanks:)


	4. Chapter 4: The Impossible Favor

Chapter four: The Impossible Favor 

Harry started leading the way toward the staircase when a big hand abruptly grabbed his upper arm and dragged him back into the living room. Harry looked up, taken off guard, to see the Uncle Vernon that Harry knew best. His face shone with boiling fury. The temple in his head was now beating so furiously that Harry feared it would explode.  
"THEY ARE NOT STAYING HERE. YOU HAD BETTER FIX THIS BOY OR I AM GOING TO. . ."  
"You are going to do what exactly?" asked Dumbledore calmly "kick him out of the house, beat him, scream at him. I am warning you now Vernon Dursley that-that would not be a very wise move on your part seeing as you are now housing 5 wizards who match your strength ten times in magic alone." Dumbledore gave Uncle Vernon his famous stare, over his half moon spectacles.  
"THIS IS MY HOUSE AND I WILL NOT. . ." Uncle Vernon yelled but this time he was cut off by a very annoyed and angry looking McGonagall.

"You are correct in the assumption that this IS your house, but we ARE YOUR guests and I wish to be treated as one. I will not stand for your rude and frankly annoying outbreaks. I have no want to be in this house and in your presence but, as you know Harry is here and in that case I NEED to be here. So while I and my colleagues are here we WILL be treated with the proper respect or YOU WILL turn up wishing that you had never heard OF the word 'magic"  
"Is that a threat?" asked Uncle Vernon in a dangerously low voice, this is where Tonks walked up and put a hand on Harry's shoulder and stated in a voice that surprisedly was even colder than Uncle Vernon's,  
"No, that's a promise."

"Potter, take us to your room and away from your psychotic family." Stated Snape who was standing as straight as a board and eyeing Marge with the most disgusted look that he could muster. Marge was standing as close to him as humanly possible, eyes batting and pouching out her lips. Harry could not hold it in any longer; he did not mean to, he just started laughing. Tears were streaming from his face and he was crouched over holding his stomach. "If I were allowed to cause you harm Potter trust me you would find yourself being cursed into the next century...STOP LAUGHING YOU INSOLENT LITTLE BRAT"  
"Sorry professor" Harry said trying to catch his breath. Harry looked over and found that Tonks had also been laughing herself to tears. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall on the other hand were still having a stare down with Uncle Vernon. Dudley at that moment would not know if an atomic bomb went off down the street, he was so disgustingly absorbed in his television program.

Harry had finally caught his breath and was once again standing up straight. This was the first official time that Harry registered that Snape was fixing Harry with a look that would kill him if looks killed.  
"My room is this way." Harry said looking away from Snape. Harry hesitantly, making sure to stay out of arms length, passed Uncle Vernon before getting a glance at Aunt Petunia, and surprisingly she did not look angry or scared, she looked almost relieved. Harry brushed this aside and started climbing the stairs to the second floor landing. Harry looked behind him when he reached the door to the guest room to make sure that everyone was behind him. Once he saw everyone he opened the door and a puddle of water splashed out onto the hard wood floor. "Brace yourself everyone, the water is cold." Harry warned and then stepped into the room. "Water, Harry what are you talking about?" He heard Tonks ask behind him and then he heard her gasp.

Harry stepped over the threshold and onto the soaking wet floor receiving many unpleasant squishing under his feet. His professors soon accompanied his squishes and Tonks squishes. "Harry, what is this, why are you sleeping in a room that is soaked?" Tonks asked

"Well the pipe in this room burst and that explains the water"  
"Ya, but that does not explain why you are calling this your bedroom"  
"Well, as you all saw and met, my Aunt Marge has come for a three day visit and the Dursleys did not want her to stay in a soaking wet room. So my only guess is that they had no problem sacrificing me for Aunt Marge's sake." At this Harry heard Tonks snort in disgust.

Harry sat on his bed, took off his shoes and then folded his legs so that they looked remarkably like a pretzel. He watched as everyone entered and stood in front of the bed. "I would offer you all a seat but as you can see"  
"No problem Harry" said Dumbledore and he took out his wand and with a simple little flick four chintz chairs appeared out of thin air and rested themselves on the floor right behind the person that would be occupying it. Everyone sat and there was a moment of awkward silence until professor McGonagall broke it.

"Well Mr. Potter as you undoubtedly know, we are all here to discus your future in the magical world." McGonagall then pulled out of her robes a letter and passed it to Harry, "these are the results of your O.W.L.S. exams that you took last year. Take a moment to read through them and just inform us when you are completed." Harry took the letter that McGonagall was handing him and quickly ripping open the seal. He unfolded the letter and began to read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

As you know you have taken your O.W.L.S. exams and I am pleased to inform you that you have received the highest level ever received in Defense Against The Dark Arts, and you have received an overall, averaged score of Exceeding Expectations. Included with this letter are your official scores on your various tests. Congratulations

Sincerely, Jane Amelia Flant, Official scoring administration of school exams Ministry of Magic

Harry quickly cast this letter aside and quickly read through his O.W.L.S. scores.

Herbology E

Transfiguration E

Divination D

D.A.D.A. O

Potions E

Charms E

C.O.M.C. o

Magical History D

Harry scanned the list a few times until a frown suddenly appeared on his face, he did not get an O in Potions, and he needed to take Potions to become an Auror. Harry knew that Snape did not accept anyone into his N.E.W.T classes without getting and O on their O.W.L.S. Harry slowly looked up from the sheet and stared at Professor McGonagall.  
"I'm finished professor" said Harry glumly before folding the results back up and handing them to Tonks who was enthusiastically gesturing him to hurry up and give them to her. Harry stared at his toes as he waited for Tonks to finish.  
"What are you so glum about Harry this is fantastic, you got the best marking in D.A.D.A. that they have ever seen? You should be jumping up and down right now!" Tonks said to Harry with a little bit of curiosity and worry in her voice.  
"Well my D.A.D.A. score still does not change the fact that I got and 'E' in Potions. I need an 'O' to take the N.E.W.T class and I need the N.E.W.T class to become an Auror."

"Well Mr. Potter, that is why Professor Snape is here," said Professor McGonagall "he is here to try to work something out. We seemed to be able to convince Professor Snape to consider letting you into his N.E.W.T classes. I personally am only doing this because last year during your career session I promised you that I would do whatever it took to make you an Auror. Mr. Potter I have yet to break a single promise, and I decided that I was not going to start now." Harry was very surprised to see that Professor McGonagall was smiling at him, of all people she was smiling at him. Harry could not think of anything else to do but to smile back and say, "Thank you professor, thank you very much."

"You are very welcome Mr. Potter, but I only began it, now you need to finish it."  
"I don't understand Professor," said Harry, he was confused. He thought that she just said that he was going to be able to get into the class.  
"Mr. Potter you have to ask Professor if you can be in his class next term!" McGonagall said calmly, like it was no big deal, but it was a big deal. How would you like it if you had to suck up to the teacher that you hate, the person that you loath with every essence in your body? Harry could tell that Snape was enjoying himself, his face was twisted into one of his evil smirks that Harry knew only all to well.

But Harry had to become an Auror, he just had to, he didn't know why but he just felt like it was something that he had to do. He was not going to let Snape stand in the way of his dream. So Harry took a deep breath and turned his head so that he was directly facing Snape. He made sure not to make eye contact though, he knew that Snape would try to get into his mind and search for the most privet and most embarrassing moments in his life and use them against him.  
"Professor Snape would you be so kind as to let me into your N.E.W.T classes next term?" Harry asked trying to sound polite but deep down he knew that that would not be enough for Snape, and he was right.  
"And why, may I ask Mr. Potter, should I let you into my class when you did not receive the score that I have requested?" Snape said, and now Harry and everyone else in the room knew that Snape WAS having a lot of fun.  
"I wish to be in your class 'sir'" Harry said the 'sir' part a little harshly but he did not care, Harry's anger was rising and Snape was enjoying every second of it. "My plan for the future is to become an Auror and I need the Potion class to be able to take the right courses for this occupation."

Snape's smirk was now replaced be an annoyed sneer. "So I, just like so many before me, should make an exception for the saint Potter because he is 'the boy who lived' or is it 'the chosen one' now?" Harry knew that he had to control his anger and that he could not fight with Snape, because if he did that then he knew that he DEFINITELY would not get into the class. But Snape was treading on VERY thin ice. "You are just like your father and your stupid godfather Sirius Black, they both were arrogant and thought that they could get anything that they wanted by sucking up. But look where that got them in the end, six feet under."

Harry's anger was now boiling over and everyone in the room felt it, to the left of Harry the pictures of his parents and his letterbox and lamp began to violently shake as though there was an earthquake. Harry finally met Snape's cold eyes with a death glare of his own. The shaking continually progressed to the shaking of the entire hose. Downstairs you could here Uncle Vernon shouting 'EARTHQUAKE' and the sound of the front door slamming indicating that the Dursleys had left the house in fright.

Suddenly Snape and his seat were harshly thrown against the wall and with a loud crash they fell to the floor. The shaking suddenly stopped and Snape looked up at Harry and Harry stared right back at him. "Don't you EVER talk about my family like that again" Harry stated and this time Snape was the one that broke eye contact.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Chapter 5: Dinner

Chapter 5: Dinner 

Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and made his way over to where Snape was now sitting in an awkward position and helped him to his feet. Once Snape had broken the eye contact between himself and Harry he dared not to make it again. This time it was Harry's turn to give Snape a death stare that would kill him if looks could kill. Snape was brushing the wood parts and dust from the unexpected crash off of his black cloak. Snape raised his hand and began to rub the back of his head where it had made contact with the wall. Once he removed his hand from his head he noticed something that was not supposed to be there, blood. There was a trickle of blood oozing from the back of Snape's head. "That was uncalled for Mr. Potter!" Spoke Professor McGonagall who was staring at Harry. Harry looked into Professor McGonagall's eyes, expecting to see a stern 'you are in big trouble now' look but got a surprise that in a way shocked him. His professor was looking at him with sorrow and pity etched into the outlines of her strict, aging face, and her cat like eyes looked down on him as though he were going to fall apart any second now. Harry was shocked because he had never seen his professor show this type of emotion before.

The feeling of surprise was soon overwhelmingly taken over by the feeling of anger. He did not want to be pitied; he did not want people to feel sorry for him. He just wanted everyone to just leave him alone. This change of emotion must have shown on Harry's face because Professor McGonagall suddenly took a step backwards and, like Snape had done, broke eye contact. Mcgonagall went over to assist professor Snape with his wound. She did not know what to think about the events that had just taken place. Was she to be angry with Harry for throwing a teacher across the room? Well no, Snape had insulted Harry's dead father and godfather; it was not his fault for getting upset. She, for the first time, truly felt sorry for the young adult that she had watched grow form an innocent little child. But she also knew that she could not give him any comfort, that she had to stay strong know matter what was to come. Looking into Harry's eyes were like looking into two orbs of out of control emotions that wanted to be released but just could not get out. The only emotion that was able to escape was anger. She could not take the incredibly high level of emotion that was radiating from those two unnaturally striking green eyes, so she broke eye contact and decided to preoccupy her mind with Snape.

Harry had not noticed, but Tonks was right behind him with a hand on his shoulder. Harry only noticed that she was there when he heard her whisper something in his ear, "It's o.k. I would have done the same exact thing, lets go wait in the hall." Harry nodded and after one last glance at the rest of the professors who were observing how deep Snape's cut was, he exited right behind Tonks.

As soon as Harry was out of the room and he was sure that the door was shut he crossed the hall to the nearest wall and slammed his fist into it with all of the might that he could muster. He did not even notice the pain that was now occupying his hand; he just slid down the wall, scrunched his knees to his chest, and berried his face in his hands. Tonks observed the scene with sad eyes. She looked up at the wall that Harry had just attacked and she noticed that he had made a dent the size of a baseball. 'Ouch that must have hurt' Tonks thought to herself. She walked over and, like Harry had done, slid down the wall right next to Harry and put a comforting hand around his shoulders. "I am so sorry Harry" was all that Tonks could even think of saying; she was for the first time in a long time, speechless.

"Well DON'T be" Harry said coldly and forcibly. Tonks was taken off guard, she had never heard his voice so cold before, and it scared her. "I DON'T want to be pitied, I just want to be left alone...is that to much to ask?" Harry said starting off angry and then sorrow was now flooding his brain and his voice broke in the end. "I just watched the last relative that I loved and who loved me die...can't you guys just give me room to breath... I can't stand it...I s-see him in my dreams...It just...I-it just hurts too much" said Harry in a whisper. It was clear that he was on the verge of crying but the tears just did not come, he said what he had to say in a whimper, like it was the only thing that he could do.

"You are not the only one who lost him you know." Stated Tonks also in a whisper that matched Harry's. "Sirius was like a brother to me, and a best friend with Remus, Buckbeak's companion and so much more. You are not the only one who is hurting over his death. But the fact is that he is gone and there is nothing that you or I or anyone else for that matter can do about it. We don't choose the consequences of our actions, it just is what it is and we have to, some way and some how, find a way to deal with that. Sirius did not give his life for you to sit here in this god-awful prison, feeling sorry for yourself. We know you need time, but the thing is that we cannot give it to you. I know that it stinks but we cannot afford to give you an eternity to mourn because Voldemort is still out there, and that murderingson of a B. . .Bellatrix Lestrange is also out there, killing. People are out there right now feeling exactly the way that you are and even worse because they have also recently lost loved ones to the hands of Voldemort. Don't you want that to stop? Don't you want to end it all?"

"Of course I want to end it all, I just don't know how to do it. It feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders and I am just not strong enough to carry it." Harry finally looked up and saw silent tears streaming down Tonks' face, it was enough to make him cry, so he let a single tear flow down his face and hit the floor.  
"You don't have to carry it alone, whether you like it or not you have friends that will follow you all of the way to the end, whatever the end may be." They just sat there and stared at each other for what felt like eternity until a soft voice brought them both back to reality.

"Nymphadora is right, you have many friends and we will assist you in any way that we can until our final days." Professor Dumbledore spoke staring down at them with soft and twinkling eyes. Professor McGonagall and Snape were behind Dumbledore, McGonagall was nodding in agreement and Snape was rolling his eyes at what he thought was a pathetic scene. Silence once again found its way back between the group, and this time it was a comfortable silence that was broken after a minute or two by an annoying screech.

"DINNER" screamed Aunt Petunia. At these words the door down the hall suddenly swung open, hit the wall with a 'BANG' and out came Harry's fat cousin Dudley. He was waddling as fast as humanly possible down the hall and towards the smell of food. He suddenly stopped for a moment to look at the witches and wizards before him. 'He must have pried his eyes off of the television while we were in the guest room' thought Harry. Dudley hesitantly took a few steps backwards, staring at them with his beady eyes, wichregistering nothing but fear, and also eagerness to get down the stairs and to the food. He looked at them and then at the staircase, then back at them and back and forth between the two as if he had to make a life altering decision. Tonks figured that this was the right time to start her plan for revenge against the Dursleys, it was little but it was a start.

"BOO" Tonks yelled and Dudley nearly jumped out of his skin "AHH" he screamed and he ran into his bedroom and slammed the door. Harry busted out laughing along with everyone else (Excluding Snape)  
"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HEAVENS IS GOING ON UP THERE, PETUNIA SAID IT IS TIME TO EAT SO GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Uncle Vernon shouted.  
"We'll be right there" Harry managed to blurt out between his fits of laughter; just the look on Dudley's face was priceless.  
"Now Tonks, was that really necessary?" Asked Professor McGonagall who was whipping a tear of laughter from her eye.  
"YES it was, after all of the crap that-that fat boy has given my little buddy here" Tonks planted a nuggie on top of Harry's head, "I thought it was the least that I could do!" explained Tonks with a wide grin on her face.  
"Thanks, did you see the look on his face, I have never seen him so scared" Harry said trying to get control of his laughter "come on lets go eat."

The professors helped Harry and Tonks off of the wall and they all made their way down the narrow staircase and into the kitchen. Uncle Vernon was sitting stiffly at the head of the table, Aunt Marge was blabbing on about how she broke her toe while she was in Switzerland, and Aunt Petunia was putting four plates of food on the table.  
"Aunt Petunia why are there only four plates of food, what about me and my guests?" Harry asked slightly confused.

"Well boy, I did not expect any guests so I did not bring enough supplies for a group of people, you are just going to have to feed yourselves!" Aunt Petunia explained through gritted teeth and without even looking up to see that everyone was standing in the doorway. Just then Harry saw his cousin Dudley opening the back door to the kitchen and take his place at the dinner table. He obviously was to afraid that the professors and Harry were going to still be in the hallway so he just climbed out of his window and made his way to the back door.

"That is quite all right Mrs. Dursley we can feed ourselves, but I must ask if you give us permission to eat at your dinner table?" Professor Dumbledore asked politely "If so I am afraid that I will have to use magic to make the table larger so that we can all fit!" Dumbledore explained and got nothing but a simple shrug from Petunia and a pulsing vein in Vernon's temple. Dumbledore took the shrug as a yes and whipped out his wand and with a flick the table stretched out to the length of a cafeteria table. Aunt Marge was to engrossed in her own story to even notice the change. The moment that she ducked down under the table to remove her shoe and show Uncle Vernon how the bone in her little toe grew back oddly, Professor Dumbledore once again made a swift movement with his wand and the table was covered with a enough food to feed an army. Uncle Vernon was beside himself with anger but held it in, remembering the threat that Tonks and McGonagall had administered upon him.

Dudley on the other hand looked like Christmas had come early. His eyes grew huge in excitement and he moved his tongue across his lips hungrily. Aunt Petunia was acting very odd, it was almost as though she did not care that people were using magic openly in her house, on second thought it was almost like she hadn't even noticed, and she just continued on with her normal routine like nothing was different. This was the second time, Harry noticed, since the professors and Tonks arrived that she has acted out of character but Harry was to hungry to ponder the problem any farther. He quickly took a seat at his normal spot and the rest followed his action by taking a seat at the table.

Professor Dumbledore sat at the other end of the table (opposite Uncle Vernon) while Professor McGonagall sat to the right of Harry and Tonks sat on the left side of Harry (next to Dudley). There was only one seat left, and one person to fill it. Snape let out a sigh of discomfort as he looked and saw that the last remaining seat was next to none other than Aunt Marge.  
"Come now Severus, have a seat." Dumbledore said with the threat of a smile playing on his face. Snape nodded to the headmaster stiffly and slowly made his way to the last residing chair. Harry watched with amusement as Snape sat down next to Aunt Marge, Snape's face showed no emotion at all but that quickly changed as Aunt Marge finally looked up from the table and once again had that love struck gaze that she wore only earlier that day. Snape's face fell completely at the look at Aunt Marge. 'this is going to be interesting!' Harry thought to himself.

As soon as everyone was settled Dudley launched at the food that Dumbledore conjured but was suddenly stopped by the rough hand of Uncle Vernon, who's face was now red, pale, and purple all at the same time, it was a very interesting sight to see.  
"Eat the food that you have in front of you" barked Uncle Vernon and Dudley suddenly looked like Christmas had been canceled as he obediently sucked up the food that was on his plate like a vacuum cleaner and then stared determinedly at the other food.

The table was silent, the only sounds that you heard were the occasional scraping of forks on plates and coughs and clearing of ones throats. All was fine until the desert arrived. Aunt Petunia silently left the table (Dumbledore stood up as she left like the gentlemen used to do back then) and brought out a large banana cream pie. Once again Dudley was transfixed by the food and stared at it like a thirsty man staring at water. Harry also noticed that to his amusement Tonks looked the exact same way.  
"Mrs. Dursley, would you mind if I had a piece of that?" Tonks asked politely and, like Dumbledore, only received a half hearted shrug and Tonks, also like Dumbledore took that as a 'yes, go ahead, help yourself' and shoveled out a large slice.

"So Snivilus was it...would you like a piece of pie? I bought it all by my self?" Asked Aunt Marge said in a dreamy voice that sounded chillingly like Professor Trelweny.  
"It is Severus you despicable woman and no, I do not wish to have any store bought pie!" Snape said sounding bored.  
"Neither do I...I have to watch my figure you know!" A giggle and the batting of eyelashes followed this statement. "Well do you drink Brandy? Well of course you do everyone drinks Brandy...Boy go get the bottle of Brandy NOW!" Aunt Marge barked at Harry and then immediately went back to her disgusting excuse for flirting. Harry looked up at Professor McGonagall who gave him a look that clearly stated 'do what your aunt says'. Harry deeply sighed and went into the living room to fetch the Brandy.

It took Harry a little longer than expected to get the Brandy because he had forgotten where his uncle had last put it. All in all it took him about ten minutes to find the Brandy. Harry made his way back to the kitchen, Brandy in hand. He had found it lying under the couch for some strange reason. He opened the Kitchendoor and his mouth instantly fell to the floor. It was a complete and total MESS. Dudley was trying to eat every scrap of food and was starting to get angry because Tonks was trying to keep him away from the food. Aunt Petunia and Professor McGonagall were both on their feet shouting at each other about how Harry is treated. Aunt Marge was practically on top of Snape and Snape was desperately trying to get the psychotic woman away from him. Also, unexpected, Uncle Vernon was shouting at Dumbledore, who seemed to be getting angrier by the second, about how HE makes a good respectable living and how DUMBLEDORE is as Harry overheard 'a crackpot old fool who teaches a bloody school of bloody witchcraft and bloody wizardry and how he needed to get his head checked out.'

Harry had to break this up some how so he ran over to the counter, climbed on top and produced the most high pitched whistle that any of them have ever heard. Everyone was holding their ears in pain and the room went quiet, you could have heard a pin drop at that moment. "What is going on in here?" Harry asked VERY confused at how the ways that his professors (of all people) were acting. "You guys are seriously acting like a bunch of children right now, will you all just look around and think about the words that were passed between one another, you should all be ashamed of yourselves." Harry said, at that moment Harry felt and sounded exactly like McGonagall. "Now I am going to bed and if you are all smart you will separate yourselves because this, I must say, is rather embarrassing." With that said Harry jumped down from the table and left the room.

The kitchen was still silent. Everyone, including Uncle Vernon, was feeling childish and also rather embarrassed at his or her actions.  
"Harry's right we are all acting like a bunch of kids...now lets pick up the mess that we created and call it a day shall we?" Tonks said and everyone nodded in agreement and started cleaning up.

A half an hour later the professors and Tonks made their way up to Harry's spare room (Dumbledore had enlarged it and placed in some new beds after examining Snape) and plopped down on their beds.  
"Goodnight everyone" Harry said innocently but there was no reply everyone was asleep before their heads hit the pillows.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. Chapter 6: Confessions

Chapter 6: McGonagall's Confession 

"Please Master, the plan will work, the muggle woman is at your command, the plan will work."  
"It had better Wormtail or I will have to settle for YOUR head on a platter instead of his." Hissed the very cold and very perturbed voice of Lord Voldemort. "I will not settle for another one of my plans to fail, you have let me down many times Wormtail, you will NOT do it again!"  
"Y-yes master, I-I understand master, this plan WILL work I swear it." Stuttered the shaking, plump man by the name of Peter Pettegrew (Wormtail).  
"I will have to make sure that the plan is proceeding accordingly, since my so called loyal death eaters seem to mess up all of the time. A meeting will be called immediately. Oh, and don't worry Wormtail I did not forget!"  
"No master please show mercy, I did not mean to fail you, the muggle woman was much harder to get alone than expected, I did not mean to throw you off schedule, please show mercy." Cried Wormtail who was now face down on the floor begging his master to not perform an unforgivable on him. But for some reason today Voldemort was feeling particularly perturbed so he did not think twice about his next move.  
"You DID throw me off schedule, and you WILL pay for it, I can not afford to have you or anyone else ruine my plans.  
CRUCIO"

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The sun was just beginning to rise, casting a pink and light blue glow on everything that it touched. The birds were chirping merrily at the windowsill of number four. It was exactly 6:00 in the morning, and if you have ever woken up that early by a happy bird then there would be only one thing that you would want to do. "SHUT THAT BLOODY BIRD UP", "will someone please SHOT it for me", "what do they have to be so happy about anyways, they eat worms for crying out loud", "Will someone just please stop the chirping. It's giving me a headache."

"CLUMP"

The birds suddenly flew away and everything was quiet. "LUMOS," whispered someone and a bright light ignited from the top of what seemed to be Tonks' wand. Tonks sat up in bed and sighed in relief. "Thank you Severus, I never thought that I would ever say these words but I LOVE your shoe!" she said with her eyes dancing around a big black shoe that had only a few seconds earlier was flying toward the glass window.  
"Well Tonks my intention was not to scare the bird it was to kill it, blasted window." He finished his statement with a deep sigh as he loudly fell back onto the bed that had been provided for him.

By that time everyone was awake (not to their liking) and were groggily sitting up and stifling yawns. "Well what is on the schedule today Harry?" asked professor McGonagall who was rubbing her head, trying desperately to rid her mind of the headache that that stupid bird had caused.  
"Well...I am not exactly sure...but I have to go down and make breakfast, do any of you want some?" Harry asked groggily standing up and heading for the door. Harry waited a few seconds and took the few grunts as yes' and exited the room toward the kitchen.

Harry pushed open the door to the kitchen and saw his uncle sitting at the dinner table sipping his coffee and reading the morning news. Harry just made a quick glance in his direction and then continued his way to the refrigerator. He opened the door and bent down so he could find the eggs. He finally located the eggs, toast, and the hash browns after about five minutes of looking. He stood up, turned around and came face to face with a purpling face of his uncle.  
"Why are these 'freaks' still in my house?" Uncle Vernon asked through gritted teeth. He was only centimeters from Harry and his deep inhaling of breath was starting to frighten Harry, being trapped between his rather large Uncle and a hard refrigerator door was not a very safe place to be.

"Well as far as I know they are having breakfast, that is usually what people do in the morning unless us 'freaks' have a schedule that no one else knows about. But the last time I checked we were on the same schedule as YOU 'muggles'." Harry said, his temper once again rising uncontrollably.  
"HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME BOY, AND DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME A MUGGLE," and with that Uncle Vernon grabbed the scuff of Harry's pajamas and raised him up so that his feet were dangling a few centimeters from the ground, with his back still against the refrigerator. They stayed like that for what had to have been a minute or two, Harry's breath was being constricted and he was at the point of gasping for breath. He tried to pry his uncle's fist from his neck but it was as hard as an iron clasp. "You will regret EVER entering this house boy," whispered Uncle Vernon in a quiet rage. Harry's uncle raised his fist, ready to strike and then suddenly froze right in his spot. A second later Harry roughly fell to the floor. His uncle had a glazed, almost detached look on his face, then without notice he fell backwards causing a huge BOOM noise.

Harry lightly felt his neck and came to the conclusion that a few bruises were going to quickly form at the spots where his uncle's fist had been. He looked up and in the doorway were all Dumbledore, Tonks and McGonagall, wands out stretched with furry etched in all of their faces. Harry could not help but smile at this, for the first time in a while Harry actually felt like he was not alone. After Sirius died Harry felt like he would always be alone, and that would never change, but at that moment he felt loved.

"Harry are you alright?" Asked Professor McGonagall who was now kneeling before Harry. She reached her hand out and signaled for Harry to pull the scuff of his P.J's down. Harry did as he was signaled and pulled the top of his P.J's down allowing his professor access to his now bruising neck. McGonagall lightly trailed her hand down Harry's neck, taking in the beginning of discoloration in a few places. She then motion for Harry to bend forward so that she could see the back of Harry's neck. Once again Harry complied and bent forward. He heard a slight gasp escape her lips.  
"Oh my, Harry where do you keep wash cloths?" Asked McGonagall in a shaky voice that startled Harry, McGonagall was also acting weird, and she was acting like...dare Harry think it...like she cared for him, more than a student.

"They are in the cupboard under the sink over there" Harry said pointing his finger in the direction of the cupboard under the sink. McGonagall quickly stood up and made her way to the place that Harry had directed. Professor Snape had finally entered the room and observed the scene as though it was something that had seen every day and like he really did not care once so ever. He swiftly made his way over to Dumbledore, who was at the moment knelt down next to Tonks, observing Uncle Vernon with a disgusted look on his face. Dumbledore's look of disgusted was quickly replaced by a sad and alert look. He stood up and motioned to the living room so that he and Snape could talk in privacy.

Professor McGonagall retuned with a blue and pink washcloth, one wet while the other was dry. Once again she motion Harry to sit forward, and once again he did what he was instructed to do. Suddenly, as soon as McGonagall put the wet clothe on the back of Harry's neck he felt a wave of pain wash through him. At this unexpected rush of pain Harry let out a yell. Because of all of his years in Quiditch Harry had excellent reflexes so with pure instinct Harry threw his hand up and clenched his neck. At this action another wave of pain flooded through him and he quickly removed his hand to find that his hand was now red, as red as blood, he was bleeding from the neck.  
"What the..." Harry said out loud. At the noise Aunt Marge, Aunt Petunia, Dudley and Dumbledore all entered the room. Harry at this point had forgotten about the pain and was now wondering where Snape had gone, because he surly would have followed the headmaster if he were talking with him in privet.

Harry was so into his own train of thought that he did not even realize that Aunt Petunia was now rushing towards Uncle Vernon, Aunt Marge close behind in a panic while Dudley just scurried out of the room and back to his bedroom where he slammed the door and curled himself into a ball in the corner of his bedroom.

Harry was pulled out of his Snape thoughts by both of his aunts screaming at the top of their lungs, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HUSBAND/BROTHER!" Aunt Petunia was directed at Dumbledore while Aunt Marge began screaming at McGonagall who looked like she desperately wanted to stun this annoying woman into the black abyss. "YOU DESERVE TO BE THROWN INTO PRISON AND ROT WITH ALL OF THE RATS, I BET YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A RESPECTABLE JOB. YOU DON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE CHILDREN, YOU WOULD PROBABLY MAKE A TERRIBLE MOTHER!" Aunt Marge screamed at McGonagall and then Harry witnessed what he had bet not many people witnessed, McGonagall turned away with pain in her eyes at Marge's last comment about McGonagall being a terrible mother. When Harry witnessed the pain in McGonagall's eyes something just snapped, and once again due to his reflexes Harry jumped up and stood nose to nose with Marge (Marge was not a very tall women, just broad.)

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO INSULT THIS WOMEN, SHE HAS ACCOMPLISHED MORE IN HER LIFE THAN YOU COULD EVEN DREAM ABOUT. SHE MAY NOT BIOLOGICALLY HAVE CHILDREN BUT SHE TREATS EVERY CHILD LIKE HER EQUAL, SHE TREATS THEM WITH RESPECT AND SHE PROTECTS THEM AS IF THEY WERE HER OWN CHILDREN. YOU DO NOT HOLD A CANDLE TO THIS WOMEN AND YOU NEVER WILL!" Harry screamed with an amount of rage that passed Marge's anger ten fold. The room went deathly quiet. You could cut all of the emotion in the room at that very moment with a knife. Harry walked over to the refrigerator were McGonagall was sitting, bent down and grabbed the washcloths that were meant to mend his bleeding neck. Harry grabbed the washcloths and quickly glanced up to see the look that now resided in McGonagall's dark green eyes. This time they were gleaming with the threat of tears and care. Harry quickly glanced away, put the wet washcloth on his neck and slowly walked out of the kitchen and quietly to his own room.

'Why did I just do that?' Harry questioned himself 'why did I stand up for McGonagall like that? And why was she looking at me like I had just done something that had changed her life, this is so confusing.' Harry opened the door to his bedroom and flung himself onto his bed 'well at least I did not blow anything else up that time' Harry thought trying to cheer himself up, this plan had failed, and then once again his thought trail came to a halt by a soft knock on the door.  
"Come in" Harry said a little harshly. The door opened and in stepped McGonagall, her hands clasped before her and her eyes staring determinedly at Harry. Harry felt a little uncomfortable under her hawk stare but he was partially used to it because he had received that same stare many times in school, that scanning stare.

Harry suddenly felt like he was no longer being watched so he thought that it would be safe enough to look up. McGonagall's eyes were now staring determinedly at the floral soaked design of the carpet on the floor. Harry decided that he was going to be the first to break the silence so he said the only thing that came to mind. "I am so sorry professor, my aunt should not have said the things that she said and I am also sorry that I lost control. I have been trying to control my anger it is just that whenever I get angry I get really angry and I just can't..." A tight embrace silenced Harry. Harry was shocked to say the absolute least. After a few seconds of stiff shock Harry relaxed into the hug and returned it with one of his own. He could not believe that he was being hugged by the sternest, strict, organized, and on schedule woman that he has ever met.

After a minute or so they finally broke apart and they stared into each other's eyes. Harry was the first to break eye contact from embarrassment. McGonagall put a finger under his chin and raised his eyes to once again look at her.  
"No on has ever stood up for me like that, I am very touched that you feel that way. Harry I want to thank you for saying those things because truth be told I thought that you were still angry at me for last year!" This time McGonagall broke eye contact and once again fixed her eyes to stare at the floor design.

Harry was very confused now, why would he be mad at her, she did not do anything wrong last year that would make Harry feel anger towards her. "Why would I be angry with you? You weren't the one that hurt me last year." Harry said the last part in a whisper that was barely audible but McGonagall heard and she understood.  
"Harry I did not give you the attention and the guidance that you needed last year, I did not even know about the blood quill that Umbridge was using last year. I should have helped you when I had the chance but I didn't, and I am so sorry for that."  
"Professor, if anything I gained, if possible, more respect for you last year!" Harry said starring at McGonagall incredulously.  
"How could you have possibly gained MORE respect for me, I let you down!" Mcgonagall said looking up and into Harry's eyes, tears were once again forming in her eyes, but this time the tears meant pain and not happiness as the ones before meant.

Harry let a small smile play on his lips as he slowly shook his head back and forth in disbelief "professor do you remember the career session that I had with you last year?" Harry waited for McGonagall to nod, when she did he continued, "well you stood up for me and had more faith in me than I have ever had before. You said that I was capable of becoming anything and that if I wanted to be an Auror than so be it and that you would train me nightly just to make sure that I would achieve my goal. I never got a chance to thank you for that." Harry said to his professor softly. Harry stood up, also pulling McGonagall with him, put his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "I have only one more thing to tell you professor"  
"Oh and what would that be" McGonagall said tears now flowing down her face.  
"Thank you!" Harry said and McGonagall quickly pulled him back into a rib crushing, yet affectionate hug that distinctly reminded Harry of one of Mrs. Weasley's hugs.

They only pulled apart because they heard a slight 'ahhmm' at the door. They both looked up to see professor Dumbledore standing there with a wide grin on his face and a bright twinkle in his eyes. "I apologize for interrupting the two of you but I personally am starved and I am led to believe that we are not welcome to have breakfast under this roof. I would also like to ask you Harry if you have any ideas where we can eat, I have a slight craving for non-magic food."

Harry did not have to think about it very long, he knew exactly where to take them.  
"I have just the place professor!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: Hey guys I am SO sorry that it took so long to update, I have a final exam coming up in a few days and I have been studying like nothing over. Please R&R it means a lot, I never thought I could get excited over a few comments but they really do count thanks:)


	7. Chapter 7: Outburst at breakfast

Chapter 7: outburst at breakfast 

Recap

...I know just the place.

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It was 7:30 in the morning by the time that everyone was dressed, and ready to go out to eat breakfast. By the looks at what the professors and Tonks were wearing you would have guessed that they were going to go to a five star restaurant, but they weren't, they definitely weren't. Harry had yet to tell them where they were going to eat, he wanted it to be a surprise.

Professor Dumbledore was wearing a Midnight blue polo shirt, with a pair of tan dress pants and black leather dress shoes. Professor McGonagall was wearing a floor length black dress that hugged the curves of her body nicely enough to make a few heads turn and her raven black hair was in a long, braid that flowed down her back and to her waist. Harry came to the conclusion that it might have been longer than Dumbledore's. Tonks wore a knee length bright pink summer dress with her hair light brown and shoulder length, this must have been the first time that Harry saw Tonks look normal and to tell the truth she looked pretty good. Harry himself was just wearing a white t-shirt with a jean jacket and a pair of light blue-blue jeans that looked a little worn out, his messy black hair could not be contained (as usual).

By 7:35 everyone was outside in the driveway. They were starting to walk to the car that was parked in the driveway when everyone stopped and stared at Harry who just kept unknowingly walking toward the car. He finally noticed that no one was behind him when he opened the driver side door and saw that no one was getting in the car.  
"What's wrong?" Harry asked a little confused.  
"Um Harry, how are we going to get to the restaurant?" McGonagall asked sounding even more confused than Harry was. In response to this question Harry's face just broke out into a large smile.  
"How does it look like we are going to get there, we are going to be driving, and we are not exactly going to a restaurant!" Harry said with a slight chuckle at the thought of the 'restaurant' that they would be eating at.  
"I think Harry, that professor McGonagall means WHO is going to drive us to our destination?" Professor Dumbledore said sounding like a stern professor.

Harry's smile faded a little, "Um I am going to be driving us, is there something wrong with that?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"You can drive?" asked McGonagall returning his one eyebrow stare with one of her own. Harry's smile returned for now he understood what all of the confusion was about. The wizardry law for driving was different than it was for muggles; you had to be 17 according to the wizardry law but 16 in the muggle world.  
"Well you see you only have to be 16 according to the muggle law to be able to drive, I am only 15, almost 16 and I only have a permit so I am going to have to have one of you guys sit in the front seat with me because the law says 'those who are driving with a permit must have a licensed adult in the front seat with them'. Understand?" Harry asked. Everyone nodded their heads, McGonagall still looking a little nervous about being driven around in a car with a 15 year old with no license.

"O.K. so everyone all aboard, we should be there in about 15 minutes." With that Harry got into the drivers side and this time everyone followed suit. Dumbledore got on the passengers' side of the car while McGonagall and Tonks loaded into the back. As soon as Harry saw that everyone was in the car and that they all had their seatbelts on Harry turned the key in the ignition and the car roared into life.

"Music anyone?" Harry asked once he had successfully pulled out of the driveway and was at the moment heading north.  
"Sure why not." Tonks said followed by a nod from professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall on the other hand stayed silent.  
"Professor McGonagall is it O.K. if we listen to some music?" Harry asked staring through the rearview mirror at his professor. "Um...only if it does not distract you" said McGonagall in a shaky type of voice. Harry looked at his professor and then thought about her response and then suddenly realized...McGonagall had never been in a muggle car.  
"This car is safe professor, don't worry I am a better driver than a transfiguration student that's for sure." Professor McGonagall's face lit up into a genuine smile at his joke but she only loosened up slightly. Harry knew that this would be as far as he could get with her so he reached down on the dashboard and turned on the radio.

The first song that was on was 'YA, by Usher' Harry loved this song but seeing the look on his professors faces made him decide that it was not the best song to be listening to so he changed the channel. After a commercial the song came on and Harry had never changed the channel so quickly, he feared that his eardrums would never be the same once he heard the loud outburst of a choir singing 'HOLY LUYA, HOLY LUYA' (Sorry for my spelling. I honestly have no clue how to spell it!). Harry changed the channel for the third time and on came the soulful voice of Aretha Franklin singing R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Harry had always loved this song and by the look of satisfaction on every ones faces he decided to leave it on this station.

Everyone in the car sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the current song 'Heard it through the grape vine by Motown' until Harry broke the silence, "AH HA. Here we are!" Harry explained happily as he pulled the car into a parking spot under a large golden 'M'.  
"Harry were are we exactly?" professor McGonagall asked staring up at the big, golden 'M' in suspicion.  
"We are at a fast food restaurant called McDonalds," replied Harry with a smile that could swallow the moon. Just the thought of his professors eating at McDonalds, he HAD to tell Ron and Hermione about this.

"I would like a Big Mac with some medium fries and a chocolate milk shake!" Harry told the young man who was typing down Harry's order on a computer. "You guys can order whatever you want it's on me. It's the only thing I can think of doing to make up for this morning. Please order whatever you'd like." With that Harry moved away from the counter and went over to the ketchup dispenser and began to fill the little cups that were provided.

About ten minutes later everyone had ordered and Harry paid the bill, it was not too expensive but it did put a dent in his wallet. Tonks had ordered some chicken selects, fries and a root beer. Professor Dumbledore ordered the kids Happy Meal (A/N when I thought of Dumbledore at McDonalds I immediately thought of a kids Happy Meal. I don't know why, I just think that that was so him.) With a chocolate milk shake and a Butterfinger/crunch McFlurry (him and his sweet tooth.) Professor McGonagall ordered a Crispy Chicken Caesar Salad, with a diet cola.

Once the meal was paid for everyone took their own trays that had their requested items on it and began to argue about where they were going to sit. Professor Dumbledore wanted to sit in the middle of the room so that he could observe how muggles ate fast food, McGonagall wanted to sit in the corner at the very back of the restaurant by the window so that she did NOT have to see how the muggles ate fast food. Harry and Tonks just stood there watching them a little amused by the way that the professors were acting like children and a little embarrassed by the way that they were acting like children in public. In the end professor McGonagall won the argument (like she always does) and they all made their way to the booth at the back.

They all finished their meals in about a half an hour and just sat there in silence. This gave Harry some time to think about the events that had occurred these past few days. The first thought that came into Harry's mind was the look on Snape's face when he saw Marge batting her eyelashes, a slight chuckle was about to escape Harry's lips when his thoughts were directed to the way that Snape treated him in Umbridge's office last year. The way that he treated him every second that they were in each other's company to be exact. At this thought Harry felt his anger begin to rise so he directed his thoughts toward McGonagall. The first thought that popped into his head was the way that she looked at him when he stood up for her to Aunt Marge and the way that she hugged him and the tears that flowed freely down her face. Then once again his thoughts were pushed in an opposite direction and he thought of how McGonagall ignored him last year and how she did not even bother to ask about how he was doing or what he was doing in detention. Harry had not really studied the way that professor McGonagall had treated him because he was still so furious about last year, its funny that McGonagall herself was the one that made Harry really think about her actions. He knew that he had said that he had forgiven her but the more that he thought about it the more it hurt. McGonagall was one of Harry's role models, and in some ways she did let him down. At this his anger went up another notch so he decided to change his thoughts to Tonks. He saw her large smile and tears in her eyes as she too watched the look on Snape's face as he stared loathingly at Marge. Then he thought of how she did not tell him anything and how she, like everyone else, kept him in the dark. Thinking about Tonks clearly was not calming him down any so he started to think about Dumbledore. The fist thought that popped into his mind was the way that Dumbledore's temper began to raise as Uncle Vernon accused him of being a 'crack pot old fool' and the look on his face and the twinkle in his eyes when Harry made him proud. Then his thoughts drifted, like they had with everyone else, to the two of them sitting in Dumbledores office and Dumbldore was telling Harry about the prophecy and the way that he could not look him in the eyes for one lousy second to tell him what was going on. At this Harry's thoughts stopped on Sirius and he watched for the millionth time as he fell into the curtain and how it all could have been avoided if Dumbledore would have just told him everything or anything for that matter.

His anger went up to unspeakable heights and he accidentally and unknowingly snorted angrily. Tonks and the professors were all pulled out of their own thoughts by Harry's sudden outburst of anger and confusedly stared at him wondering what had happened. "Harry are you alright?" Dumbledore asked clearly worried. Harry was forced back into reality but reality did not make his anger go away, if anything it made him even more angry as he stared into those two pools of blue.  
"Oh I'm fine just fine. Glad to know that NOW you are worried, NOW you care." Harry said fiercely to his professor. Dumbledore stared sadly at Harry as Harry broke eye contact with him and stared just as fiercely at everyone else. "We should be going loitering IS against the law." Harry said and he stood up and walked out of the restaurant. Everyone just sat there all VERY confused at what had caused his outburst but decided that the only way to help him was to follow him. So they all stood up, threw away their trash away and made their way to the car.

They were now only five minutes from home; nobody spoke a word the entire time. Harry had calmed down and was not so angry, he kind of felt silly and selfish for the way that he acted, but he still had his pride. He figured that he had done enough apologizing to last him a lifetime and he also figured that he had a right to be mad. He had just lost the only person in the world that truly cared for him and he knew no other way to express the way that he was feeling then through anger.

McGonagall was sitting in the back seat of the car, staring out of the window, watching the trees fly bye in a slur of color. Her mind was blank; no thoughts went through her mind except for one. She kept thinking about how good it felt to finally hold Harry. She had watched him go through so much and she had never been able to help him to sooth him, she just had to watch. She had cared for him like a son but she had never been able to tell him, she had to watch as he suffered a decade of mistreatment at the hands of the Dursleys and it killed her. She fell in love with him the first time that she saw him on that awful night when they had to leave him on the doorstep of number 4 Privet Drive. She thought that they had made a breakthrough when they had talked the other day but by the way that he had stared at her in that McDonalds place made her think otherwise. He was so furious you could see it all in his eyes. You could see anger, pain, and loneliness in that one set of eyes. All she had ever wanted to do was help him.

They pulled into the driveway and even before a word was muttered Harry was out of the car and at the front door. Everyone else exited the car and followed Harry. Harry had opened the door and took the steps two at a time. He went into his room, shut the door and slide down until he was on the ground. He just sat there and thought once again about his life. He needed someone to talk to, anyone but his professors so he got up and started to write a letter to Ron and Hermione about his, so far, VERY eventful summer.

In the meantime downstairs everything was a bit more chaotic. Uncle Vernon was now completely out of the stunned stage and was at the moment in the 'I am shocked senseless' stage (this was the stage in which the person stares into the abyss with their mouths hanging open, drool usually appears in this stage, it usually last about a half hour or so, sometimes longer it depends on what kind of person the muggle is.) Dumbledore was at the moment speaking with Aunt Petunia who was as pale as a ghost but still as angry as a bull, while Tonks and McGonagall tried to calm down Aunt Marge who was at the moment trying to pummel Dumbledore.

Harry finished his letters and tied it to Hedwig's leg. She hooted sweetly and swooshed out into the morning air. Harry was left standing at the window, stuck in his own thoughts when he heard a large 'clump' from behind him. Harry quickly swung around to see what had made that noise, wand at the ready and was met by the sight of Professor Snape kneeling on the ground, bruises everywhere. They stared at each other for a moment until Snape suddenly fell face first onto the ground. Harry without hesitation fell to his knees after his professor put a hand on his head and felt that he had a very high temperature. He did the only thing that he thought he could do,  
"PROFESSORS HELP!"

...TO BE CONTINUED...


	8. Chapter 8: The Essays

Chapter 8: The essays

It was only a few seconds later that Harry heard the thumping of footsteps the staircase. The professors opened the door to the guest room, expecting to find an injured Harry, but instead found an injured Snape lying on the ground. Professor Dumblodore quickly swooped down on Snape and began to examine him. After a few moments of stiff silence Professor Dumbledore finally spoke. "Minerva, would you please escort Harry out of here and then go downstairs to the fireplace and floo for Poppy, I fear that we may need her assistance"  
"Yes Headmaster," McGonagall said and she went over to Harry and led him towards the door and out into the hallway. "Stay here, I will return shortly," she said to Harry and, after seeing his brief nod, descended the creaky staircase to call for Madam Pomfrey. Harry stood there in silence, thoughts racing through his head. Where was Snape? Why was he hurt? Who hurt him? And Why wasn't Tonks here? After a moment in thought Harry heard a large CRASH from downstairs. The crash was closely followed by Tonks' voice saying,  
"Calm down, if you need to break something, there is a nice multicolored teapot sitting in the living room"  
'So that's where Tonks is' Harry thought to himself.

Footsteps could once again be heard coming up the stairs. Professor McGonagall could be seen, closely followed by a flustered looking Poppy Pomfrey. McGonagall opened the door and allowed her friend to step in before closing it. Leaving her and Harry, once again alone.  
"Is everything O.K.?" Harry asked with his eyes glued to the floor.  
"I honestly don't know. Professor Snape is in pretty bad condition. All we can do is hope that he will be alright"  
Silence once again fell over the two, a silence that was both blissful and deafening at the same time. Harry decided that he had to bring up some sort of conversation, so he asked the question that he had been meaning to ask her ever since they had arrived.  
"Professor, in the letter that you sent me you told me that you had found something interesting about my Transfiguration Essay, something that you had wished to bring up. Would you mind me asking you what was so curious?"

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and gave a quick nod before beginning. "Now what I am about to tell you is very confusing, but very factual. You must promise me that you will not interrupt me while I am explaining. If you do I will stop telling you and simply leave you in the dark, and you and me both know that it is not exactly fun to be in the dark about your own life. I am telling you this because I believe that you have the right to know something significant that may affect you. Now, do you promise not to interrupt me"  
"Yes ma'am, I promise." Harry stated intriguingly. McGonagall gave a nod and began her story.

"Sometime this early summer I decided that I was going to start grading the Transfiguration essays, which all students were required to do for the O.W.L.S Exam. When I was about a quarter way through reading your essay I found something to be very peculiar and for some reason very similar to something that I had read before. I pushed this thought aside, for I knew that it was not possible that I had read you essay before. I continued down until I reached the half waypoint. This is when I realized that I HAD read you essay before. As I continued I found myself able to recite the last paragraph word for word. Something definitely was not right. I decided that I had to find out the reason why your essay was so familiar to me so I started to look through my past files. After about an hours search I had found out my answer. Your essay was word for word the same as your mothers, Lily Evans. I was about to pronounce myself satisfied when I looked to the very top of her paper and found the words 'under investigation' written in red ink. My curiosity had once again roared into life and I found myself going through file after file. I finally reached the files dated almost 60-70 years back. I was about to give up when once again, fate decided to lend me a helping hand. I had stumbled across Professor Dumbledore's essay, which also had 'under investigation' scribbled over the top. I read through it and found that it was word for word the same as Lily Evans and your own. It was nearly around one in the morning, but I still had to get to the root of these recurrences. My files did not date any farther than professor Dumbledore's time, but the files dating farther back did exist. The next day dawned and I went straight up to the Headmaster's office to see if he would lend me the files dating all of the way back to the age of the four founders. Of course he was curious as to why I wanted the files so I simply told him that I might find something in them that would save me a lot of thinking. He was, naturally, still curious but he lent them to me just the same. It had taken me ALL day to sort the files and get through almost all of them. It was once again late at night when I decided that it was time to give up my search and continue my grading. I stacked all of the files neatly on the corner of my desk. I started to move around me desk so that I could pick them all up, but my foot caught on my dress, causing the files and myself to fall to the floor. I quickly began cleaning up my mess when something caught my eye. I pulled a piece of old parchment out of the very last file which was dated the beginning of the four founder's days. The words written on the piece of parchment were word for word the same as Albus Dumbledore's, Lily Evans, and yours. Do you know what I was reading Harry?" 

Harry shook his head dumbly and McGonagall took this as her queue to continue, "I was reading the biography of Godric Gryffindor. He was writing about the true meaning behind the art of Transfiguration. I do not know exactly what this means Harry but I know one thing. This chain of people, Gryffindor, Dumbledore, Lily and now you are a chain of Very important and powerful wizards. Godric Gryffindor was one of the founders of the most powerful school for witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Albus Dumbledore is known as the greatest wizard of the age, he defeated one of the most evil beings to threaten this world, and he is known to be the greatest headmaster that Hogwarts has ever known. Lily Evans, your mother was known as the brightest and most clever witch of her time, and she was in training to become a professor at Hogwarts. Now you Harry, you are..."

"I am destined to kill one of the most darkest wizards in the world and of all time and am meant to loose everything dear to me for the cause." Harry interrupted fiercely and bitterly. Minerva scowled at this.  
"Did you or did you not promise me that you would NOT interrupt me?" McGonagall stated, her temper too beginning to flare up. Harry nodded apologetically as a signal to continue.

"As I was saying, this is a very strong chain of people that were and are still connected to Hogwarts in some way or form. Once again I still have NO idea what this may mean and I hope to find out. I just thought that you had ought to know that you may have a connection to some of the greatest wizards and witches who have ever lived!" Harry smiled at this.  
"Thank you professor, you seem to be the only one who thinks that I should be informed of what is happening in my own life." Both chuckled at this statement and both stopped when Madam Pomfrey came out, her face was paler then usual.

"Poppy what's wrong, is Severus O.K.?" Minerva asked, getting worried "Yes Minerva Severus is just fine, he's up and he needs to see Dumbledore 'immediately', Mr. Potter will you please fetch the headmaster?" Harry nodded and complied.  
Minerva was very worried now "Poppy what is going on"  
"We need to get out of this house Min and we need to get out of it NOW!"

TO BE CONTINUED... 


	9. Chapter 9: Personal Spy

Chapter 9 Personal Spy 

RECAP- "We need to get out of this house Min and we need to get out of it NOW"  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Poppy take a deep breath and tell me what is go...POPPY!" Minerva was halted in the middle of her statement by the sight of her friends knees buckling. Minerva caught her before she hit the floor. At that moment Professor Dumbledore and harry swiftly made their way up the staircase and rushed over to were Minerva was sitting, holding her unconscious friend.  
"Minerva, what has happened?" asked Dumbledore with worry and confusion filling his blue eyes.  
"I'm not exactly sure. When I sent Harry to find you and tell you the message Poppy looked at me and said...and said. . ."  
"What Minerva, what did she say?" Albus asked calmly but you could still tell that he was in a hurry.  
"She said that we needed to get out of the house, and that we needed to get out right away and then she just fainted. Albus something that Severus said must have frightened her half to death." The worry that filled the headmasters eyes was wiped away with what seemed to be pure fear; this look scared both Harry and Minerva because Albus had only expressed that look when he believed that something was terribly wrong. Without another word the headmaster suddenly stood up and walked into the room with Severus. Harry could not settle their suspicions so they followed the headmaster into the room.

Severus was sitting up with his back up against the headboard of the bed with his eyes closed tightly, breathing heavily. "Severus, Poppy said that there was something important that you needed to tell me. What is it?" Albus asked Severus quietly. At the sound of the headmasters voice Severus' eyes snapped open.  
"Yes sir, we have a large problem, we need to get Potter to safety." Severus stated this in his silky tone but his eyes were frozen upon Dumbledore in what also seemed like fear. Harry had never seen Snape so scared, and upon the fright of Dumbledore's reaction Harry had become even more frightened to see the same exact look upon the man that he hated with a passion, and has never shown a single sigh of fright throughout any of the years that Harry had known him.  
"Why Severus, what happened at the Death Eater meeting?" Dumbledore asked "The Dark Lord seemed abnormally 'up beet' then usual, which caused a wave of curiosity among us all. He then informed us that he had Potter exactly where he wanted him to be, and that he would have his revenged at the end of the night. This only created more suspicion so the Dark Lord seemed to feel giving tonight so he told us that he had set up a personal spy for Potter and that she was wrapped around his finger"  
Harry was listening intently but stopped for a second when he heard about a personal spy. He also picked up that Snape had called them a 'she'. Snape continuing with his report once again grabbed his attention.  
"One of the Death Eaters felt brave and asked him who the personal spy was. His smile suddenly turned into a twisted smirk and he pulled out his wand and started to walk around the circle that we were formed into and he pointed his wand at each and every one of us. When his searching was complete he stepped into the middle of the circle and revealed to us that he had found something out, something that would explain all of his misfortune with catching Potter. He said that the spy that was located in the Dursley's house had found a 'SPY' working for the light. He pointed his wand at me and spoke theCrutatious curse. He found out that I was the spy. He kept the spell on me for 16 minutes and 32 seconds before he let go and raised his wand to speak the killing curse. For the first time I was quicker than he and I aparated away. Headmaster, the last thing that I heard before I aparated away was Luscious Malfoy mutter to Goyle the spy's name"  
At this point Harry had unintentionally begun to shiver.  
"Severus what was the name?" Albus asked even more urgently than before. Snape took a deep breath and closed hid eyes tightly before he spoke the name. Harry already knew what he was going to say, he knew from the moment the Snape had said 'personal spy' and 'she'.

"Petunia Dursley" Snape said, and at that moment a large CRASH and THUMP was heard from downstairs closely followed by a loud scream that could only be distinguished as Tonks. Before anyone could do anything Harry was racing down the stairs closely followed by Minerva and Dumbledore who were yelling for Harry to stop, but Harry would not listen.

When Harry reached the bottom of the last stair he felt something hard smash him on the shoulder blade and he was flung through the stairs railing and he hit the wall. He looked up and noticed that everything was all blurry and pixilated. He quickly looked down on the floor for his glasses and mentally slapped himself when he heard the crack of the lenses of his glasses, but he was not the one who broke them. He looked up and squinted until he could faintly make out the form of a woman in a polka dot red and white dress. Aunt Petunia.

Petunia started running full force at Harry and Harry stared to run full force to the kitchen. He smashed through the kitchen door and was suddenly torn down to the ground. A large blob like form on the ground caused this unexpected fall that Harry summarized to still be Uncle Vernon's stunned body. Harry started to crawl across the floor when he once again heard the kitchen door slam open. Harry whipped around it time to see Aunt Petunia close the door with her mind. She then held her hand out and a blue force surrounded the door, and once again she turned around to face Harry.  
"Aunt Petunia how did you . . .You're a...why...who"  
"SHHHH" Petunia whispered as she walker around the kitchen counter and picked up a steak knife from the drawer.  
"Aunt Petunia what are you doing?" Harry asked, openly afraid as Aunt Petunia started to walk towards him as if she were Mike Myers from the horror movie HALLOWEEN. Suddenly there was a thumping noise from the other side of the kitchen door and Harry heard Dumbledore, and McGonagall throwing spells at the blocked door and had noticeably made absolutely no progress.

Out of nowhere Petunia lunged at him and Harry (with help from all of his quiditch training) leaped aside and started to run around the kitchen counter. Petunia followed him with a quickened pace and Harry threw the dishes that were on the counter onto the ground to slow down hit aunt and whipped the placemats, and the silverware at Petunia, who dodged it all with grace that surprised Harry. Harry worked his way towards the kitchen table. Petunia looked at him as if she was looking straight through him and began to walk (once again) slowly towards the kitchen table as if she were in some kind of trance. As she went around to one side Harry went to the other and the two of them circle around the table until Petunia became aggravated and waved her hand and sent Harry flying through the air. Harry hit the refrigerator and landed in a heap on the ground. Aunt Petunia walked to him, knelt down to were he was sitting and for the first time during the entire fiasco Harry could see Aunt Petunia clearly, and it was not the Aunt Petunia that he knew. Her eyes portrayed a distant glossy look that Harry would know anywhere.  
"Aunt Petunia listen to me, you are under a very powerful spell called the Imperius curse, and this is not you. Petunia please..." Harry was cut off by Petunias far away voice that far surpassed Professor Trewleny's.  
"SHHHHHHH, you're time will soon come." She raised the knife and Harry closed his eyes and braced for the impact, but it never came. He only felt a little scratch on his hand. Harry opened his eyes to see Aunt Petunia looking at him as if she was surprised, scared and confused. She was torn between the will to cry or laugh. Harry came to the conclusion that she was lifted from the Imperius curse and before he could say anything Petunia fell backwards in a faint, and the kitchen door reopened to reveal a worried Dumbledore and McGonagall.

They rushed over to Harry and both started to shoot questions at him at the same time.  
"Please guys you're giving me a headache." Harry said and the two professors apologized while looking from Harry to Petunia to Vernon, to the mess that scattered the floor and then back to Harry who was examining the cut on his hand.  
"Harry what happened?" asked McGonagall. Harry took a deep breath and explained to them how he was thrown through the railing and then about how Petunia grabbed the knife and chased him around the kitchen and then about how he figured out that she was under the Imperius curse and when Harry got to the small cut that Petunia gave Harry Dumbledore roughly grabbed Harry's hand and his eyes grew.  
"Professor, what is it. It's just a small cut, no real damage done"  
"Ohh my boy, the fact is that your Aunt could not have done any more damage if she were to have killed you on the spot." Dumbledore said.

"What, why?"  
"Harry, run upstairs and grab anything that belongs to you, we must leave the house and we must leave right now." Dumbledore stated seriously.  
"But Professor, I don't understand why do we have to leave"  
"Because if you don't then you will die tonight, go get your stuff Harry and meet us in the living room"  
Harry jumped up and ran up to his room to collect his things.

When he got downstairs he saw a sight worse than the kitchen. The sofa was torn to shreds there were scorch marks on all of the walls and broken glass scattered the floor. He also saw Tonk's unconscious body lying behind the sofa and Aunt Marge's body in the chair across the room.  
"Professor, what in the world is going on, will you please explain this to me?" Harry asked exasperated.

"No Harry not right now, get into the fireplace now please." Dumbledore did not ask this in his usual patient voice and it was not a request, it was an actual order, and this only made Harry stubborn.  
"NO" Harry stated pointedly.

"Harry, I know that this is a difficult time for you, but we need to leave, everything will be explained to you..." Harry was angry now.  
"Will it, Will it really. You never explain anything, Sirius never explains anything, and Ron and Hermione never explain anything. Professor McGonagall seems to be the only person that believes that I have the right to know about what is going on in my messed up life. I am not going ANYWHERE until I know why." Harry explained heatedly, but no response met him. What did meet him were two blank expressions that were directed over Harry's shoulder.  
"What are you two staring at?" Harry asked and he turned around and his breath caught into a lump in his throat and his face took on a pasty and pale complexion.  
"So Potter, you need things explained to you do you, well maybe I can be of some service." Hissed Harry's archenemy,  
Voldemort.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	10. Chapter 10: Unexpected Visit

Chapter 10: Voldemorts Explanation 

Recap: "So Potter, you need things explained to you do you, well maybe I can be of some service." Hissed Harry's archenemy,  
Voldemort.  
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"Voldemort" Harry spoke in nothing above a whisper

"In the flesh, well so to speak. You my little foe have been particularly difficult to get to, you caused me a lot of trouble and I am the type of person who likes thing nice and easy"  
"How..." Harry started.

"How did I get through the barrier that protected you, think about it Potter, why are you even in this hell hole as you describe it in the first place?" Voldemort asked clearly amused.  
"Dumbledore says that my aunt is my last true blood relative and that as long as she keeps me, I am safe from you." Harry said with anger slowly creeping up his spine.  
"Young Harry, how clueless you are. It seems that the Oh-So-Great and Powerful Albus Dumbledore has left poor-young Harry Potter in the dark" Voldemort said, "well Harry allow me to let you in on a little secret. The blood bond that you're stupid Mudblood mother created can in fact be severed. Do you want to know how?" Voldemort asked in a conversational tone.

"Leave the boy alone Tom" Dumbledore finally spoke from behind Harry in an equally conversational tone.  
"Albus Dumbledore, my, my, my what a pleasant surprise. I must say you are looking even older and decrepit than you did the last time I saw you. Should you inform Potter about why he is about to die or shall I have the honor?"  
"Harry will be told of his true destiny when the time is right" Minerva piped in.  
"AHHH and you brought you're little sidekick along with you ay Dumbledore, well I have no problem with eliminating three of my largest threats tonight"  
"The only thing that you are going to get rid of tonight is you amazingly large ego" Minerva said with her Scottish temper flaring.  
"Well we will see about that now won't we." said Voldemort and he pulled out his wand, followed by Minerva and Dumbledore revealing their wands. "Harry get out of the way, you should not be in this" Dumbledore stated as he readied himself for a battle.  
"No sir, I am afraid that I cannot do that."  
"Harry move, we do not want you to get hurt" McGonagall stated, and she really meant it. Minerva McGonagall would give her very own life for Harry and she did not know why; she just knew that it was something that she needed to do.  
"No Professor, for one I have already lost my mother, father, friend, and Godfather to this creature and I am not about to loose you as well, I have lost too many people that I love and cared for, I could not possibly live with myself if I lost the two of you. Second Voldemort, funny enough seems to be the only one on this freaking planet that thinks that I have a right to know anything. This is my battle to fight, so just back off and for once in your lives let me handle this." Harry said in a tone that was calm, but fierce. It must have worked because everyone lowered their wands (including Voldemort).

Harry turned to Voldemort who once again raised his wand at Harry's heart.  
"So Potter you do seem to have brains in that hallow head of yours. So you want to know the truth do you, well hear it is. I had never been able to attack you during the summer holidays because of the protection from you filthy mother and I began to give up and start a new plan when something in my genius brain clicked."  
"Oh really, and what 'CLICKED'" Harry asked angrily.

"There was someone that could get to you on a regular basis, someone who if acted a bit strangely would not affect or even easily be noticed, someone who was to a certain level close to you and someone who would not give me any trouble when asked to get me what I needed"  
"Aunt Petunia" Harry spoke.

"Yes, your Aunt went to the grocery store one day and incidentally became acquainted with one of my Death Eaters who swiftly placed her under the Imperius curse. She was then transported to my lair where she was given her instructions to watch over the strange happenings of the house and then to finish the other part of the task that was assigned to her."  
"What exactly WAS the other part of her assignment?" Harry asked.

"Now, now, don't get ahead of yourself the story has only just begun. Well she did watch over the house for a few days and when I was about to send her the sign to finish her task, the 'HOGWARTS CLAN' came in. The opportunity could not have been any more golden, so I decided to let the muggle observe for a few more days. During that period of time I received the most interesting information about a certain potions professor that I just could not wait to spread. Speaking of traitors, were is the dirty traitor, licking his wounds I suppose. Anyways, I decided that it was time to strike but I wanted it to be done a specific way. You see I needed your Aunt to harm you so that the bond would be broken but I did not want her to weaken you, for that was going to be my job."

"How would my Aunt harming me break the bond?" Harry asked, curious and absorbed in the tale.  
"Well you see the bond only connected you and your aunt because it symbolized a want, even a slight want to keep you, and by your aunt causing you harm it proved that she no longer wanted you, and the bond was thus broken."

"That is impossible Tom!" Voldemort cringed at the use of his muggle name "Petunia would have had to do this task of her own free will, not because of some spell that had been placed upon her, and there is no spell to manipulate free will in that particular fashion." Dumbledore stated calmly.  
"Yes all true Dumbledore, but there is a spell to take your true will and to spike it to extreme levels. Petunia really did not want anything to do with Potter, but this was hidden beneath all of the guilt about her sister. I simply made the little devil pop out. Now Harry," Voldemort pointed his wand straight at Harry's heart and did something that Harry was not exactly expecting. Voldemort flicked his wand and Harry went flying through the air, hitting the couch in the process and knocking it over.  
"Expeliarmus" Voldemort yelled at Minerva and Dumbledore and their wands went flying out of their hands and landed on the other side of the room.  
"I have some unfinished business that I have to take care of" Voldemort said as he aimed his wand at Minerva "I'll start with you." He stated and he raised his wand "AVADA KEDAVRA"  
"NOOO" Harry screamed and he leaped out from behind the couch, ran in front of his professors and put his hands out.

A scream echoed the streets of Privet Drive,ascreamthat did not belongto Harry, but to Voldemort. A blue shield went up and around Harry, Minerva and Dumbledore, shielding them and protecting them from the killing curse that Voldemort had summoned. The curse and the shield battled each other with shocks of light that filled the room, blinding everyone. Finally there was one more large shock of white light and then the shield, the curse and Voldemort all disappeared. Harry looked down at his hands in disbelief.  
"What the bloody hell" Harry stated but behind Harry, Dumbledore and Minerva could do nothing but grin. Harry turned around and was met with two grins, which confused him even more than he already was.  
"What are you two grinning at?" He asked. Minerva answered,  
"Well Harry, I think that we just found out the importance of the connection between you and the greatest witches and wizards who ever lived!"

TO BE CONTINUED...


	11. Chapter 11: The Power of Three

Chapter 11

RECAP: "Well Harry, I think that we just found out the importance of the connection between you and the greatest witches and wizards who ever lived"  
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"I don't understand. I have never been able to do that." Harry said in disbelief while still staring blankly at his hands.  
"Well Harry, do you remember when I told you about the connection with you and the others and that I had yet to figure out what the connection was, well I do believe that this just cleared it up" said Minerva, still slightly smiling. Dumbledore was at the moment in the process of reviving Tonks, and must have had some luck because she started to stir.  
"You were connected to Lilly, Albus, and Godric because of the Power of Three! (A/N: yes, yes, I know CHARMED but I could not think of anything else...just keep reading...please"  
"The Power of Three, it rings a bell, but nothing particular comes to mind. What's the Power of Three?" Harry asked, still looking at his hands.  
"Well The Power of Three is the most ancient for of magic to date, and also the most powerful. Have you ever heard the saying 'third times the charm'?" She asked "Yes, but I just thought that it was superstition" Harry said, finally looking up at McGonagall.  
"No, it is FAR from superstition. It is a type of magic that stands by the rule of three and the bonding of four." At Harry's confused look Minerva decided that she needed to elaborate. "The Power Of Three refers to a chosen group of three witches and/or wizards who carry some special type of magic inside of them. Now this magic was not meant for them, this magic was, unknowingly, pooled together by the three and would be grown and advanced through the years until the 'fourth' arrived to claim it. You Harry I believe are the fourth"  
"But how, Dombledore does not have this power, and as far as I know neither did my mother. Why am I the only one who has this power if it was inside the other three?" Harry asked, his eyes were pouring into Minerva's.  
"Well Harry as I have said, the power was 'UNKNOWINGLY' pooled together. You see the strange part about this form of magic is that it is the only type of magic that happens without anyone knowing that it is happening, the four of you met the qualifications of being the Power of Three and the bonding of four."

"Qualifications, I don't remember filling out an application for this!" Harry said sarcastically and started to once again, stare at his hands.  
"The qualifications were simple. The power was set into your mother, Albus, and Godric to store and to grow because they all had important futures, and each of these futures connected to each other in some way, shape or form. Godric's' purpose was to build Hogwarts, and since he was the purest of the four founders the power was placed inside of him. After many years of the power growing inside of Godric, it was passed down to Albus who soon attended the school. The power then took time and grew inside of Albus because his future was to vanquish the Dark Lord Grindlewald, to become Hogwarts greatest Headmaster and to be a support for Lilly, your mother." Minerva explained.  
"But, I still don't understand, my mother didn't do anything great like destroy a dark lord, or run Hogwarts, what made her so special?" Harry asked, once again looking at Minerva, but this time he said it a little impatiently. Dumbledore had move passed Tonks who was rejuvenated and holding her head to fight off a dangerous headache and he was currently reviving Marge.  
"You Harry, you are what made your mother so special. Whatever was in charge of placing the powers somehow knew that your mother would give birth to you. So as you mother grew, so did the power. When she died the power was placed in your body, but you were unable to control it. This is because of the protection that she placed on you. That blood protection bonded you and her and it kept her alive, it kept her alive in you. Since your Aunt has harmed you out of her own free will the bond that was created was broken, and with that was the connection that your mother had to this world, and to you. I know that it sounds terrible but it is the truth. It is also the truth that when your mother was officially gone the power was completely passed to you. The power had now traveled thought the three generations and had grown into something that is thought to be unimaginable. You now have this great power"  
"But why am I the fourth, what is so god damn special about me?" Harry asked he was getting angry because he could not handle the fact that he had yet another destiny to render, control, and concur.  
"Mr. Potter you will not speak to me in that way, I am trying to explain things to you the best that I can and if you go off on me like that again I will be forced to stop explaining things to you. Do you understand me?" Asked Professor McGonagall, it was true that she and Harry had in a way bonded but that did not give him the right to disrespect her, she just would not allow it.  
"Sorry Professor" said Harry looking down at his feet.  
"Now, you are so 'god damn special' as you bluntly put it because you are the one who is meant to have the greatest impact that this world has ever known"  
"What impact"  
"Well we don't know that yet know do we?" Harry blushed at his stupidity. Marge was now on her feet again and she was demanding Dumbledore to tell her what had happened. Tonks had seemed to still have a pounding headache but got up and helped Dumbledore as best as she could.

"Professor, where am I going to live now, I mean the protection is gone so that means that I have to be protected somewhere else right? Where do you suppose I will be moved?" Harry asked McGonagall.  
"Well Harry your are right, you will have to be moved to another location, and at the moment I am not exactly sure on where it will be, but I do know one thing if for sure"  
"What?" Harry asked curiously "It is not you that is going to be needing the protection, from now on it is going to be everyone else including, from the outlook on tonight's events, so will the Dark Lord!"

"Well I could not help but overhear your conversation and I have come up with a perfect conclusion on where you are going to live for the rest of the summer!" Intervened Professor Dumbledore.  
"Where?" asked Harry "Well you need to be somewhere hidden, with someone trusted and somewhere were you could train to use your new powers." Albus said looking straight at Minerva with a flicker of a smile on his face daring to turn into a grin.  
"Oh no Albus, I can't, I am extraordinarily busy, and I don't know how to take care of a child." Minerva stated half trying to convince Albus and the other half trying to convince herself.  
"Minerva my dear, if I am not mistaken you were the one who was talking about wanting children after the war, and I have never seen anyone so protective over their charges as you are. This is the perfect opportunity. I would take him in if it were not for all of the ministry issues. Your home would be the best place for him to study his power and to practice with little interruption, and I do believe that this would be the perfect opportunity to show that you do in fact have a 'motherly side' as you put it to Severus at the end of term. Please do this." Albus asked and he glared at her over his half moon spectacles.  
"You don't have to take me in Professor, I don't want to be a burden to you." Harry said and he was about to turn around to help clean up the mess in the kitchen when Minerva made him halt in his step.  
"Fine, Potter can stay with me for the summer."

Harry whipped around and smiled broadly at his professor.  
"Thank you professor, I promise I will be as quiet as a mouse, you will not even know that I am there"  
"Nonsense, if you were as quiet as a mouse then I would be forced to worry constantly about why you are not acting like an ordinary teenage boy. But there are, of course, ground rules that must be followed. They will be explained to you when we reach the house. Go pick up you're suit-case, we will leave for my home immediately." Minerva stated and Harry ran to the other side of the staircase to retrieve his suitcase, which had accidentally been broken open with in contents spilling everywhere.

"You owe me Albus Dumbledore" Minerva stated dryly "Oh no my dear, by the end of the summer I think that it is going to be you that will owe me." Albus stated grinning inwardly and outwardly.  
"What is that sup..." Minerva started but was cut off by Harry "Ready Professor"  
"Alright just step into the fireplace and yell 'lion cubs' and you shall be taken directly to my hose. You may go first"  
Harry took a handful of Floo Powder provided by McGonagall, went into the fireplace and repeated the password. Soon he was gone in a blaze of green flames.  
"This is going to be quite the summer" Minerva mumbled to herself and followed Harry through her own blaze of green fire.

TO BE CONTINUED... 

A/N: This chapter is a confusing one so I am terribly sorry if you get lost. Just tell me if you get lost and at what part and I will revise it the best that I can. Thank you for all of the reviews that I have received and I hope that I can keep you all entertained :) 


	12. Chapter 12: My House

Chapter 12 My House

RECAP: "This is going to be quite the summer" Minerva mumbled to herself and followed Harry through her own blaze of green fire.  
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When Minerva stepped out of her fire she took a deep breath and took a single step when,  
"AHH" She yelled as she unexpectedly fell to the floor. "What in the world?" she asked but received her answer when she looked across from her and found Harry also spread across the floor. She looked around and saw that her living room was an absolute mess, it seemed like everything was turned over and there was food splattered against the walls and the floor. "Harry are you alright, why are you on the floor, and what in Marlins name happened to my living room?" asked Minerva who started to stand up, taking Harry with her.  
"Well actually it is quite embarrassing." Harry said and Minerva noticed that his cheeks turned slightly pink at the statement.  
"Well Harry if we are going to be living with each other than we are going to have to establish some sort of trust right? You can tell me anything, I will not laugh. I promise" Minerva said.  
"Well when I came out of the fire I became sidetracked and started to stare at the ceiling when I heard a screech below me. I was so startled that I jumped backwards hitting the mantelpiece, which explains the mess by your fire. I then noticed that I was so distracted to notice that I had stepped on your house elf who flung the try of food that she was carrying. She then started to run and scream like a maniac. I tried to catch her to calm her down, but it was not as easy as it sounds. She knocked over the table and when I grabbed her foot she jumped over the couch, taking me with her, that explains the turned over couch. That is when I let go and she disappeared. Then you came in and here we are. You have a lovely house have I told you that." Harry explained in a hurry, adding in that little piece, trying to buy some sympathy. That is when something happened that Harry REALLY did NOT expect.

Minerva's eyes began to swell as she through her head back and laughed the loudest and the longest that Harry had ever heard her laugh...to think about it Harry had never heard her laugh before. These strange turns of events caught on and suddenly Harry to began to laugh.  
"Professor...What...are...we…laughing...at!" Harry blurted out between outbursts of laughter"  
"Oh Harry, thank you, I have not laughed like that in a very long time...I was laughing at the look on your face and." That was all there was and she started busting out again, this time she fell to the floor in tears. She really did not know why she was laughing so hard at, this was VERY out of character for her to do, let alone in front of her guest and student. It seemed like a lot of things had been confusing to her, but she just followed the rule of thumb 'what shall be known will unravel itself in time.  
Harry sat down beside her and tried to calm her down. Finally a good five minutes later Minerva regained her composure and stood up again. Harry looked around the room and saw a torn piece of tablecloth on the ground, which he gave to Minerva who thanked him while she dried her eyes.  
"I am really sorry about the mess, I will clean it up." Harry said and he leaned down to start picking things up.  
"No, no don't be silly Harry" Minerva said between sniffles and she waver her hand and the mess just disappeared. The table was in the correct place, the food was cleaned up off of the walls, and the couch was returned to its normal state.

"Now Harry I do believe that I mention a few ground rules" Minerva stated now completely returned to her normal state.  
"Number one, you must listen to everything that I say, I will not tolerate any misbehavior, understood"  
"Yes ma'am" Harry stated.  
"Number two, there will be little to no wondering, there are rooms in this house that have been and will stay undisturbed, understood, you will go nowhere unless I know where you are"  
"Yes ma'am"  
"Number three, when I leave the house you will not be able to leave or go outside. When I am here however, my home is your home, and you are free to roam around outside as long as"  
"You know where I am and what I am doing, yes ma'am" Harry finished and Minerva looked at Harry sternly "Number four, there is going to be a schedule set up for you that will preoccupy most of you day except for"  
"Schedule, why do I need a schedule?" Harry interrupted "This leads me to the next thing, please reframe from talking when I am talking, it is rude. Now, where was I, Oh yes, your day will be split up into a few different categories,  
1) Food- you will be given a breakfast, lunch and a dinner 2) Sleep- I will make sure that you receive at least 8-10 hours of sleep each night 3) Training- I and some other professors will be teaching you how to use and how to control you newfound powers 4) Free time- you will be given breaks in-between your training and you will be given the weekends off, then is when you can do all of your wondering and whatever teenage boys do"  
"Professor, will I be able to have my friends over sometimes, if it can't be arranged then I understand I just need to talk to them about...stuff" Harry asked. Minerva knew what 'stuff' he was referring to. Harry's godfather had passed away and Minerva had yet to see any serious Sid effects but that was another reason that she had wanted to go to the Dursley's, to check on Harry and to see if he was going to be all right.  
"I am not sure, but I will see what I can do on the matter, I know that your friends mean a lot to you. KARA" Minerva called and the house elf that Harry had...well, become acquainted with popped up and bowed to Minerva.  
"Yes ma'am?" Kara asked "Kara will you please show Mr. Potter to his room please, I have some business that I need to take care of. Harry feel free to wonder your room and the East wing of the house but DO NOT under ANY circumstances go into the West wing"  
"Yes ma'am." Harry replied and with that the house elf scurried away leaving Harry in a rush to keep up with her.  
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Minerva walked to her study and picked up quill and some paper and began writing a letter and then another letter, until she had enough to completely the plan than that she had created. Today was a special day and Minerva planned on making it one that Harry would be able to remember. She was not exactly sure what she was doing, but she just HAD to do something, someone's Birthday only comes once a year, and Minerva would be damned if she let Harry miss out on another one. There was no doubt in her mind that Harry had never had a proper Birthday party, and Minerva was set upon giving him one.

When the letters were complete she called her owl (who she did not particularly like, but it was a birthday present so she mine as well make good use of it. She much rather preferred cats.) Which hurried off with the letters. Minerva then called her other house elf Dilly and ordered him to start setting up decorations, she seemed to have everything planned out but one thing...who was going to bake the cake"  
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Kara the house elf finally slowed down and came to a halt at one of the many doors that decorated the hallway that he had entered. He assumed that it was his room. The house elf opened the door and stood aside so that Harry could enter, Harry was stunned. He had never seen such a perfect room in his entire life. It was decorated in red and gold (his houses colors) with paintings of Quidditch players and snitches flying across the room. In the middle of the room sat a king size bed with silk, red sheets with gold trim. On the other side of the room was a window, with red curtains framing the glass. It also had a set of purple pillows and a white blanket sitting on top. It seemed that McGonagall knew that Harry liked stargazing out of his window whenever he was at school. Then at the back of the room there was a roaring fire with and oak mantel with pictures of his mother and father sitting on top. He then noticed that next to the bed was a bed-table, and on the bed table sat a large book.

Harry walked over to the book and glanced at the cover, which read 'Magic's Mysterious History' by Gwendolyn Humdinger.  
Harry placed the book where he found it and then fell flat on the bed.  
'I have a feeling that living here is going to be worse than living at the Dursleys" Harry thought before he drifted off into a soon to be fitful sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED... 


	13. Chapter 13: The Dream & Evil Bday Cakes

Chapter 13:The dream and the evil Birthday cake

Recap: 'I have a feeling that living here is going to be worse than living at the Dursleys" Harry thought before he drifted off into a soon to be fitful sleep.

She seemed to have everything planned out but one thing...who was going to bake the cake?  
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Voldemort walked over to Harry who was currently crouched down onto the ground in pain caused by the Crutatious Curse.  
"You have been particularly difficult to find, capture, and kill. You have cost me many hours of my dark reign. But do you want to know something Harry? It will all be worth it once you are gone . . . You see, that power in you body will give me a firm hold on this pathetic world. Everyone will die Harry, they will all die, and it will be your entire fault. Look around you Harry, tell me what you see." Voldemort commanded. He then raised his wand and pointed it at Harry's head, which obediently started to look around the room.  
As Harry looked around he noticed that he was crouching on a dark, damp and cold surface. The walls were dripping with water and he could see glowing eyes from the deepest corners. He came to the conclusion that he must be in some cave somewhere. He then looked up and saw a throne, and throne made of dark violet velvet. It was made out of red oak with a snake carved into the sides.  
"Tell me what you see." Voldemort commanded once again and this time he received a reply.  
"I see nothing, nothing but darkness and evil"  
"Yes Harry, this is what the rest of the world is going to look like as well, filled with darkness, pain, and despair"  
"Why?" Harry asked "Why? Because it is not fare, it was never fair. The world is in some sort of matrix where they think that they are the only things on this planet, like they are the center of the universe. They are all trapped in their own little bubbles and I will be the one to pop those bubbles. I want them to feel the pain that they all asserted on everyone and me that they believed to be outcasts. Everyone used to look down on me and make fun of me; they would treat me like I was a fool. But now they are the fools, they do not realize how completely and totally wrapped around my finger they are. My stupid muggle father left my mother alone when she was pregnant with me, he left her because he did not want to believe that he was married to a witch and was going to be a 'daddy' of a wizard. He did not care about us, my mother and I. I am evil because that is the way that my father chose to make me"  
"Make you, but I thought that he left you!" Harry said, his curiosity getting the best of him. At this Voldemort's eyes flashed and he looked down at Harry, pondering if he should tell him of his past.

"Well Potter seeing that you are going to die soon anyways I will tell you about why I am the way that I am." Voldemort started to stare at something that Harry for some reason could not see. Voldemort's face took on a pensive type look as he started to tell Harry his past. As he spoke he spoke as if he were reciting something that he had recited 100 times before.  
"About 3 years after I was born my father returned to my house, the 'Riddle House' everyone calls it. The Grandfather clock that resided in the house struck Midnight on the 21 of August, when the 12th tone rang the front door burst open to reveal my father's frame in the darkness. My mother had no time to react so she grabbed me and she put me behind her for protection. Then she started to beg 'please don't kill Tom, he did not do anything wrong, he is just a baby.' But my father did not seem to hear a single word that she said as he raised a pistol and pointed it at my mother. He then told her to move so that he could kill me, he did not wish to kill my mother, just me. He believed that I was the cause of all of his problems and that I would be the end of everything good. He moved along the cabin wall until he got a clear view of my baby form, he once again raised his gun and fired"  
Voldemort closed his eyes tightly but kept his tone steady and his image superior. But when he opened his eyes once again Harry saw something that he had never seen in Voldemort's face, and something that he thought he never would . . . he saw pain. Harry knew this pain all to well; Voldemort was feeling the pain of the past and of memories that he had never wanted to see again. "I waited for the bullet to sear through my skin, but it never came. I looked up and saw my father standing over the immobile and dead form of my mother...My mother gave her life to save me, and I knew it. My father's eyes held nothing, no pain, no confusion, no anger, they were just blank but when he looked back at me I saw everything. Pain, anger, guilt, confusion, love, hate everything. He raised the pistol again and aimed it right at my heart. I knew what was going to happen, he was going to kill me like he killed my mother. So I did what any other child would have done... I screamed, I screamed the loudest and longest that I had ever screamed. It must have been loud enough because my father dropped the gun and covered his ears in pain, my throat became horse so I had no choice but to stop. At this point my father was lying on the ground in pain, when he finally realized that I was done he stood up, there was a small trail of blood making its way down his face from his left ear, and started running at me. The hate that I felt for him at that moment was enough to stop him in his tracks, pick him up and through him through the window. I looked out the window in time to see my PATHETIC MUGGLE FATHER limping away like a wounded deer. I went over to my mother and spent the rest of the night holding her, and telling her that I would find some way to make it right, some way to bring her back, and I promised her that I would get revenge and that her death would not be in vain"  
"I thought that you were raised in an orphanage," Harry stated "I was Potter, and I am going to make this Very clear, I am telling the story so if YOU interrupt me one more time it will be the last thing that you ever do" Voldemort stated steadily, he still had that lost expression on his face and Harry wanted to here the rest of what happened so he had to bite back his retaliation and wait for Voldemort to start again.

"The next morning the muggle police came to my house and inspected my mothers dead body, they then decided that I was to got straight to an orphanage, I had read about orphanages and I just did not want to go . . . I would NOT go, so I ran away. I ran into the forest that resided at the edge of the town and I ran. I ran until I tripped over a turned up root that was sticking out of the ground. This is where I met my soul mate, my only companion.

I lay on the ground with a twisted ankle so I could not run when I saw a Gigantic Snake approach . . .Nagaini. She spoke to me in a tongue that I did not know that I possessed. I was talking snake and I did not even know it. She told me that everything was going to be all right and that I should let the police take me to the orphanage. She said that in the orphanage I would find my path, my destiny...and she was right. A few years later when I was old enough that Nitwit Dumbledore came to invite me to Hogwarts.

That was when I knew what I was destined for, and then is when I knew that soon I would have enough power to avenge my mother. It took seven years, seven years and when I graduated from Hogwarts I knew that it was time, the very next day I set out to find "daddy dearest"" Voldemort said sarcastically and his eyes turned from pain, to hatred and pride.  
"I found him easily, he was in a little hut just outside of London. I went to his house and." He then smiled a murderous smile. "Lets just say that the front page on the Daily Prophet read 'most horrific murder...Mr. Thomas Riddle, killed by his own son." His smile faltered a bit and he turned around and swiftly made his way up to his velvet throne. He then stared down at Harry; a glimmer was set in his eyes. "One of my tasks was complete, I received my revenge, now the only thing left was to bring my mother back, to awaken her from her deep sleep"  
'Wake the dead, you thought that you could wake the dead?" Harry blurted out and Voldemort's smile once again grew.  
"Thought Potter, I think and I know. I know that I can awaken my mother it is just the matter of having enough power to do it."

"That is why I actually went after you that night, I figured that if you and me shared the same bond then when I killed your mother than that power that you have just received would also belong to me, then I figured that I would just kill you and take half of the power. Before I left to finish this task Severus Snape came up to me, and he told me about a certain...prophecy, which I am sure that you know all about"  
"SNAPE, SNAPE IS THE ONE WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT THE PROPHECY?" Harry yelled in fury "SILENCE" Voldemort yelled as he pushed the Crutatious curse on Harry. "I don't remember giving you the right to talk, I am not finished yet.  
"As I was saying I was told the prophecy so I then decided that I had to finish you off right then and there so I went to your house and. Things just did not turn out exactly as I planned them to, now did they?"

"I don't understand how the power that I have can help you to get your mother back." Harry said and at this statement Voldemort just through his head back and laughed. He suddenly ran down towards Harry, bent down to his level and roughly grabbed his face.  
"You stupid little boy, do you know ANYTHING about this, I guess not. Among other things you have developed the power to heal. All of the killing that I have done has not been for pure fun. The people who have died are the people who had the same power that you have or had a power strong enough to match it, and the other people who died were the people who got in my way. You Harry are my key to my mother and to my rule, with my mother at my side we will be unstoppable and we will rule, and it is all because of you. Goodbye Harry Potter...and thank you"  
"AVADA KEDAVA"  
The spell hit Harry's chest like a thousand knives, the searing pain made Harry scream in pain, in a pain that he had never felt before and the pain went on and on until finally it was over. He opened his eyes to see a blurry image of McGonagall sitting on the bed beside him with worry in her eyes, but he also saw something else on her face...FLOUR?  
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WHAT MINERVA WAS DOING WHILE HARRY WAS DREAMING 

Minerva watched as Harry left the room to go explore and to most likely take a nap, he looked exhausted! She decided that she had A LOT to do and not much time to do it in so immediately she called her house elf Kara in.  
"Kara, would you mind going to Diagon Alley and buying these things for me" Minerva passed Kara a list of Birthday presents that she thought that Harry might enjoy. Kara nodded and disappeared with a 'POP'. Minerva had never thrown a birthday party before so she mentally went down the list of things that were usually found and done at a Birthday party. -Invitations for friends---check -Decorations---check -Presents---check -Birthday cake--- ...Oops

Minerva needed a Birthday cake, her house elves were busy and she knew that the bakery was closed today...'well' she thought 'I guess that I am just going to have to make it myself...I mean how hard could it be'  
She walked into the kitchen and with a flick of her wand all of the ingredients for a Triple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting all came whizzing out of various places and settled into an organized mess on the counter. She flicked her wand again and the oven turned on to 375 degrees.  
"Well that was not so difficult" Minerva said to herself and just when she was going to cast a spell to make the cake she stopped.  
"Maybe Harry is going to want a homemade cake... well what the heck, how hard can it be, its just like making a simple potion." With that she walked over to the ingredients, picked up the recipe from the box and started.

First the directions said -Two sticks of butter, smooth So Minerva picked up the two sticks of butter, plopped them into the bowl and then went to the next ingredient.  
-2 cups of granulated sugar "Granulated sugar what the... Oh here we are," she said as she picked up the 'powdered' sugar. "2 cups" she said to herself, and she clearly did not see the measuring cups sitting behind the bowl so she went over to the cupboard and picked out two cups (they were different sizes of course) and she filled them with the sugar and dumped them into the bowl.  
"Now . . .3/4 cup of water...hmnm" She than picked up the bigger of the two cups, filled it to the top and was slowly making her way towards the bowl when Dilly popped out behind her.  
"The decorations are up ma'am, but I think I will put up more" and he popped away. Dilly Popping out behind had scared her enough to make her whiz around and spill all but (wouldn't you know it) 3/4 of a cup of water. When Dilly left Minerva seemed to totally forget about the water on the floor so she finished walking over to the counter and dumped the water in.  
-2 eggs, was the next ingredient so she picked two large eggs out of the container and she just threw the in (without cracking them). She then leaned over the recipe and started to read what to do next.  
"Add bag of chocolate powder and then mix with mixer for 2 minutes or until all blended . . .O.K." she placed the hand held electrical mixer in the bowl and set it to the highest power. It did not take her long to figure out that this was DEFINITELY not the right thing to do.

The machine ROARED into life and all of the ingredients BURST out of the bowl and splattered EVERYWHERE, on the floor, on the walls, on the counter, and in Minerva's hair. She quickly turned it off and examined the damage. After a few moments of thinking and of contemplating she decided that Harry was just going to have to have a magic made cake because this was just NOT working out. So she decided to start cleaning up.  
She picked up the flour and started to walk back to the cupboard when.  
"AHHH" She slipped on the water that she spilled earlier. She landed right on her Butt and the flour bag (as soon as it hit Minerva's lap) exploded into her face as a cloud of white. Minerva started to cough and wave her hands, trying to clear the flour. When the flour finally settled Minerva got up and started to brush the white off of her face, and her clothing.

When she had gotten the majority off of her clothes she started to clean her face, but she did not get very far. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a blood-curdling scream from Harry's room. She completely forgot about the mess of flour on her face and she just started to run towards Harry's screams.  
When she entered Harry's room she saw the poor boy wriggling in his bed, his eyes shut tightly in pain, with cold sweat dripping off of his face. Minerva ran to his side and tried to wake him gently but seeing that that clearly did not work she started to shake him a little more roughly His eyes shot open like bullets and he stared into Minerva's eyes. His expression was filled with panic and pain and confusion.  
"Harry are you alright, you were just having a nightmare, just breathe . . .Harry what are you staring at?" Minerva asked as in confusion.  
"Why, are you covered in flour?" Harry asked, breathing heavily. Minerva suddenly understood and at that moment she vowed that she would NEVER bake again.

TO BE CONTINUED... 


	14. Chapter 14: SURPRISE

14? 

RECAP: Why do you have flour on your face?

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Why do you have flour on your face?" Harry asked, his breaths coming in quick rasps, his body slightly shaking.  
"Well . . .it . . .well it is in a way . . .well . . .I Sort of . . .WAIT why are you the one interviewing my, you are the one who woke up screaming Bloody Mary!" Harry slightly blushed and then his eyes suddenly turned distant and frightened. This change did not go unnoticed.  
"You had another nightmare about 'HIM' again didn't you?" Minerva asked understandingly. Harry nodded, the distant look still in his eyes.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" Minerva asked soothingly. At this she received no reply. She decided that she would get it out of the boy sooner or later, and today was his Birthday so it would have to be later. "Well as for an answer to your question I had a little accident in the kitchen." This seemed to snap Harry back o reality and a small smirk began to curve around his mouth.  
"You, in the kitchen. Doing what?" Harry asked, his smirk growing into a miniature smile as he watched his professor's face take on a light pink color. "Well that is something that I know and something that you will have to find out on your own"  
DING DONG Minerva's door deep doorbell rang throughout the large house. This was Minerva's time to smirk.  
"Excuse me, I need to get that. Stay here will you?" she said and left before Harry got a chance to reply.

Harry took the opportunity to fling the sheets away from him and 'slowly' stand up. His first attempt failed miserably as the room began to spin. He tightly clamped his eyes shut and took 5 or 6 deep breaths before attempting to open his eyes again. He looked down at himself in disgust as he tried to peel his pajamas free from his body. He must have been more frightened then he thought. He quickly gathered a pair of blue jeans and a plain midnight blue T-Shirt from one of his drawers and quietly left his room and ventured down the hall to the bathroom.

Five minutes later he emerged from the bathroom and started to make his way to his room when he heard hushed whispers coming from the living room. His curiosity got the best of him so he started to slowly walk toward the room where he had heard the voices. The door to the living room was shut, 'well that's weird, McGonagall never shuts the living room door' Harry thought suspiciously. He pulled his wand from out of his front pocket (Moody would kill him if he EVER saw it in his back pocket) and placed his hand on the doorknob. He slowly began to turn it to the right and it let out an audible SQUEAK. At this the murmurings quickly ceased. Harry thought 'its now or never' and he flung open the door and jumped into the dark room.  
The lights suddenly flicked on and Harry heard a loud:

"SURPRISE"

Harry looked around the room, which had balloons floating everywhere and a HUGE banner stretching across the entire room reading "HARRY 16th BIRTHDAY HARRY". Ha also noticed that EVERYONE was there. Ron, Hermione, Mr. &Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Ginny, everyone from the order, Dumbledore, and the rest of his friends from school. Everyone was smiling broadly at him.

All of the grinning must have been contagious because Harry's face suddenly broke down and spread out to a smile that could swallow the moon. This was the first genuine smile that had had created in a long time. In that moment he remembered how much he really did love smiling and laughing.  
"WOW" was all that he could say.  
Minerva walked up to him, placed her arms around his shoulders and whispered into his ears "Happy Birthday Harry. You deserve it." She then walked away from him and stood in front of the door that led to the patio. She put her hand on the doorknob and began her mini speech.  
"Welcome all of you, to Harry's 16th Birthday party" a cry of whistles and cheering erupted from the crowd. Minerva raised her hand for silence.  
"Now I do believe is the time in which EVERYONE looks forward to on their Birthday" she turned the knob and opened the door leading to the outside patio "Presents" she said and she backed away from the door and watched as Harry's mouth dropped open.

Harry had never seen so many presents in his ENTIRE life. It was a mountain. Boxes upon boxes towered into the night air. They even lined the patio edge (and the patio was a good size.  
"What . . .who. .How . . .how many. . How is this . . .why. . I . . .WOW" Harry pronounced and everyone started to laugh.  
"Well were not getting any younger you know, open, open, open." Fred pronounced.  
"Now Fred if Harry is not ready to open his gifts then he certainly does not have to" Mrs. Weasley pronounced scolding at Fred.  
"Oh come on mum, there is a MOUNTAIN of presents," Fred said "Everything that he could ever want," George continued "A pile of presents that children could not even POSSIBLY dream up and you do not think that he is ready." Fred finished "Don't be so thick Mum" They both said on at the same time.  
Everyone began chuckling as Fred and George walked up behind Harry and pushed him into the seat that was comfortably seated in front of MT. Gift and preceded to hand him gift after gift.

He received a book on the GREATEST seekers in the history of Wizardry from Ron, a new copy of HOGWARTS: A HISTORY from Hermione,  
"Gee Hermione, I can't wait to read this monster" Harry commented He came to a small package that looked rather like a jewelry box. He opened it to find a small silver locket with a rose and the word 'FOREVER' engraved into the front. He opened it and a small tear came to his eye.  
On one side was a picture of his mother and father kissing on their Wedding day and on the other side was his favorite picture in the entire world. It was the picture of his mother holding him with one of his father's arms around his mother's waist and the other was one his baby hand and he was making his hand wave. His parents smiles in that photo where the smiles that he saw every night before he went to sleep. There was also a card that went along. Harry opened it up and read it to himself:

Dear Harry,  
This is the least that I could give you. I wish you could have known them and be able to remember the feeling that they gave you. They loved you with all of their hearts Harry and so do all of your friends. You must NEVER forget that. If you are ever lost or need help just open this locket and decipher what their smiles mean. They mean that they love you and that they are SO proud of you, as are we all.

With Love, Professor Dumbledore

Harry looked up from the card, a few stray tears making their way down his face and onto his chin. Dumbledore smiled at him and motioned for him to put the necklace on. Harry gently pulled the fragile necklace out of its velvet case and slipped it over his head where it perfectly hung around his neck. It was a perfect fit; Harry wondered how he could have possibly made it through life without it.

An hour and a half later his pile was gone and now he had the gifts AND the wrapping paper which belonged to the gifts towering over him.  
"O.K. Birthday boy, what next" Mrs. Weasley asked in her motherly voice.  
"Well I think . . ." but Fred and Georges screams of cut him off:  
"CAKE" the twins yelled and they ran to the kitchen.  
"FRED, GEORGE GET YOUR BUTTS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, WHAT IF THAT IS NOT WHAT HARRY WANTS. WHAT IF HE WANTS TO . . ." But Mrs. Weasley suddenly stopped her ranting and silence filled the house. Everyone soon grew suspicious of the abrupt silence and started to murmur and follow to where they saw the Weasleys go. Then their murmuring suddenly stopped.  
'What the Hell' Harry thought to himself and looked over to Professor McGonagall who was trying to suppress a smile. This only shot up Harry's suspicion as he followed his guests and politely pushed his way to the kitchen door where his thoughts also suddenly stopped. It was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.

On the Kitchen counted sat a 6 layer double chocolate cake covered in chocolate fudge icing and accented by large pieces of

Dark and Milk chocolate shavings surrounded each and every inch of the scrumptious cake. Lining the bottom of the enormous cake were several lumps of chocolate-peanut butter ice cream (Harry's favorite). Followed by glasses filled with foaming Butter Beer. Harry stared at the cake in AW, while Fred and George licked their lips expectantly. Minerva showed up a moment later, no longer suppressing her grin. Harry noticed her arrival only when she put her hands on his shoulders.  
"It's beautiful," Harry whispered with an appreciative grin on his face.  
"Technically I did not do it," She whispered back. In confusion Harry asked,  
"Then who did"  
"Well I made it, but I made it with magic." Harry nodded in understanding until once again a question racked his brain.  
"Then why did you have flour all over your face if you made the cake by magic?" Harry asked and once again Minerva's face turned a light shade of pink. This time Harry was not able to notice because his back was to her.  
"Well . . .I just wanted to give you an actual birthday and I thought that that must inquire an actual cake so . . . I kind of . . .tried to make the cake myself. Lets just say that this idea did not work out very well"  
At this Harry let out a burst of laughter that drew everyone's attention away from the cake and onto Harry who was holding his stomach in laughing cramps. Minerva soon also joined Harry in his fit of laughter. Everyone just stared at them as if they were complete Weirdo's. Especially the students, they had never seen this king, open side of McGonagall before and in the end they figured that they liked it and that they could get used to it.

After a few minutes the pair had calmed down enough to tell everyone to dig in. and that is EXACTLY what everyone did. Within no more than 20 minutes that HUGE cake was nothing but half a layer and the only remainder of the ice cream was a large chocolate puddle that surrounded the almost eaten cake.  
Everyone sat at the dinning table holding their stomachs as if they were going to explode. Small talk surrounded the house.

Harry was talking to Ron about the next Quiditch World Cup and Hermione was in deep conversation with McGonagall about Transfiguration. Suddenly something hit Harry's mind and he just had to ask.  
"Professor Dumbledore"  
"Yes my boy?" Dumbledore asked after pulling himself away from the conversation with Tonks.  
"I was just wondering how what happened to Professor Snape. We left in such a hurry, is he O.K.?" At this question everyone at the table fell silent and waited for Dumbledore's response.  
Dumbledore heaved a deep sigh before he began. "Well, He was on a mission for me (none of the children were supposed to know that Snape was actually a spy and was going to Death Eater meetings) when he learned about the attack that was to happen at you Aunt and Uncles house. He also found out about how your Aunt was under a spell. Voldemort found out that he was going to come and warn us so he captured him and tortured him with the crutatious curse. Before Voldemort could do much more damage he apparated away. He is currently at ST. Mungos. He took quite the beating. But do not worry he will be back and healthy before the start of term"  
At this all of the kids groaned in displeasure and Dumbledore grinned, "Come now, he cannot possibly be THAT bad"  
"OH MY MERLIN yes he can and yes he is" Ron said and all the students started to erupt in mutual conversation on how TERRIBLE Snape was. Harry though did not take place in the conversation. He HATED Snape yes, but he had risked his life to save him, the least he could do was not talk about him behind his back 'at least for the meantime' Harry thought to himself.

A few hours passed until all of the guests left after wishing Harry a Happy Birthday and thanking Minerva for inviting them. Both Minerva and Harry started to clean up when Minerva noticed that Harry was not looking very happy, she wanted to know why.  
"So Harry, did you have fun"  
"What . . .oh yes, lots, thank you Ma'am" Harry said without looking up.  
"Harry for one thing, if we are going to be living together I will grant you permission to call me Minerva and second, if you had such a 'swell' time then why do you look like Quiditch has been permanently canceled?" Minerva said. Harry sighed deeply and did not answer for a few moments.  
"I don't know" he lied. He did know why and Minerva knew that he knew why.  
"I think you do, come here" Minerva said and led Harry over to the couch where they both sat down. Harry's eyes were glued to his hands, which were lying on his lap and Minerva's eyes were glued on him.  
"So, do you want to tell me something?" Minerva asked.  
Harry once again sighed and began, "Well, the cake was perfect and all of my friend were there and I got everything that I could possibly want except . . ." "Except?" Minerva prompted "Except Sirius. I just wanted him to be here. I miss him so mush," Harry stated as he forcibly whipped away the stupid tears that were freely falling.  
Minerva gently lifted his chin with her hand and looked into his tear filled eyes. "I know you miss him Harry, and I know that you wanted him to be here more than anything, but you must know that it is O.K. to miss him. It is O.K. to cry and to just wish for him to come back. You need to let your feelings out. You can come to me whenever, I'm here for you I hope you know that." She said and Harry leaned his head on her shoulder. She softly began to stroke his hair, she felt his unshed tears drip through her robes. About 30 minutes later both were asleep. Harry was lying on McGonagall's lap and McGonagall had a protecting arm around him. This was the first full night of sleep that they had both received, and it would probably be one of their last.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Hey guys. . .for those who have read this story already, I had to take it off of the website and do some grammer checks.I was getting a LOT of comments about them. That is also why I did not have a chance to update. Well thank you anyways and keep the reviews comin:)


	15. Chapter 15: Lesson 1

Chapter 15: Lesson One 

The next morning Minerva woke feeling both refreshed and . . . Heavy? She looked down to see Harry in a deep and peaceful sleep. She smiled a genuine smile. She took pleasure out of the fact that she was able to give this poor boy a reason to smile and a reason to laugh. She had always been rather found of him. She had always labored the feeling that it was her job to protect him from all of life's cruelties, but now, as she stares at the sleeping angel, did she feel this feeling unfold into a need. She felt a need to protect him and a need to make him feel as if he would never be alone again. But deep inside her mind was a voice, which tauntingly reminded her of the fact that she was nothing more than Harry's professor, and that she should keep her distance. But through the years her heart had, with every beat, begged for a chance to reach out to this lost child, to take him into her arms and to comfort him. Being the stern and strict woman that she was, she allowed her mind to prevail, and her mind has been ruling over heart ever since she could walk. But the feeling that she felt when she looked into Harry's eyes was different. This feeling was one that she had never felt before, therefore not distinctly knowing what it means. She also knew that telling Harry her feelings might scare him and that was the last thing that she wanted to do. So, she came to the conclusion that she would just hold her tongue, like she had done for the past sixteen years, and let the events lead them both to where fate wants them to be.  
It was still rather early, and she did not wish to disturb Harry so Minerva once again drifted into a dreamless sleep.

-------------------------------------------

The grandfather clock in the living room struck its nine beets in a deep baritone, which was loud enough to wake Harry from his slumber. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and immediately noticed that he was not lying on a pillow, but on McGonagall's lap.

He slowly straightened his back, careful not to wake his sleeping companion, and stood to stretch his legs. He stood there for a moment wondering what he could do when his stomach pronounced an ugly and abrupt gargling noise. Harry smiled at his himself and decided that it would be very rude of him to ignore its request. He quietly made his way to the kitchen. While preparing himself for a breakfast for one he remembered the happenings of the night before. He smiled at the memory and decided that if McGonagall could throw him a birthday party then it would be no trouble to him if he made her breakfast. With this thought in mind he took out everything that he needed and began cooking up a storm.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Minerva once again awoke from her sleep and noticed that something was different. She looked down to find nothing but her own legs imprinted by Harry's absence. Where was Harry? Her silent question was quickly answered as a sweet aroma drifted through the room and into Minerva's nose. She took a deep breath and inhaled the luscious scent and stood up with the intent on finding its cause.

Minerva walked into the kitchen and was met with a sight, which made her stern face break into a broad smile. She saw a plate with a pile of sausages stacked in a pyramid stance, next to that was a heaping plate of bacon. As her eyes wandered across the table she saw a bowl of scrambled eggs and a partner plate of over-easy eggs. She almost laughed as she saw the sky-scrapping tower of pancakes, which looked threateningly close to tumbling over. She looked at the other side of the kitchen and saw Harry standing at the stove, a pair of headphones (One of his many presents) blocking all outside sound, flipping omelets and stirring a large pot of gravy which, she figured, was meant for the biscuits which were baking in the oven.  
Clearly Harry was oblivious to the fact that Minerva was in the room so she quietly walked over to the table and sat in one of the vacant chairs and watched in amusement as Harry danced to his music while skillfully flipping the omelets into the air and catching them with the skillet. The oven started to beep signaling the finishing of the biscuits. Minerva watched as Harry opened the oven, pulled out the hot biscuits and then once again closed the oven with one foot. It was clear to Minerva that Harry was no stranger to the mysterious, and in her mind frustrating, ways of cooking.  
When the omelets were finished and the biscuits were covered in the warm gravy Harry skillfully picked it all up and moved it over to the table (he had yet to notice Minerva's presence, he was to distracted by his music).

'Everything is perfect' Harry thought 'now all I have to do is wait for McG…' At that very moment Harry caught a smirking McGonagall in the corner of his eye.  
"AHHH . . .Professor . . .how long have you been sitting there?" Harry asked quickly and rather sheepishly as he swiftly removed the headphones from his ears and placed them on the table.  
"Only a moment . . .or two." McGonagall stated with a smirk held knowingly on her face. Harry, realizing what this must have meant, turned a slight shade of pink and swiftly changed the conversation to another topic.  
"I made you breakfast. I figured that it would be my thanks to you for the party that you threw me, and also for the, um, stuff that you did for me last night. I didn't mean to break down like that. I'm sorry if I kept you up last night, I noticed that you were still with me when I woke up and I"  
"Harry relax, you do not have to apologize for a thing. I was happy to do what I did and I do not wish to hear the words 'I'm sorry' and 'last night' in the same sentence ever again. Now, this breakfast looks Amazing and I do not wish for it to get cold. So if you would not mind sitting down so that I can eat!" MgGonagall said in a calm and gentle tone. For a moment Harry could have identified it as rather motherly. Harry pushed this thought aside and with a small smile sat down and began loading his plate with the scrumptious food that he prepared.

A half of an hour passed and both Harry and McGonagall sat in a comfortable silence, letting the delicious breakfast expand into their pleasantly filled stomach. McGonagall decided that it was time to confront the inevitable and talk to Harry about the beginning of his training. "I thank you again for that wonderful breakfast. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I have had a homemade-non-magic meal. I feel the need to bring to your attention that today is Monday, meaning that today is officially you first day of training." Harry nodded in understanding so Minerva continued, "today I will be overseeing your lessons. I decided that today we will focus on understanding you new power and also unlocking any other abilities that might have stored away"  
Harry nodded and started picking up the dishes and walking them over to the sink. Harry was about to place the dishes into the sink when 'POOF' they just disappeared. Harry turned around to see McGonagall standing with her wand pointed at the dishes the table was suddenly spotless.  
"Harry I may enjoy eating like a muggle but I certainly do not like cleaning like them," and with a slight smile she directed Harry to her library where they would search for information concerning this strange blue force which caused Voldemort to disappear and Harry to be left untouched.

-------------------------------------------------

Two hours passed in silence. Nothing but the sound of turning pages and the additional cough could be heard. When suddenly-  
"AHH HA!" Harry yelled in happiness.  
"What did you find?" McGonagall asked curiously as she walked over and sat in a vacant chair next to Harry so that she could see the pages of the old book.  
"Is it just me or does this sound vaguely familiar, listen:

'Aurora Emeralds,  
At age 16, Aurora Emeralds came to find that she had an extraordinary, and legendary gift. When put in a situation where her family was in great peril (see page 10023) she conjured a defense mechanism, which blocked the unfriendly magic that was aimed at her, loved ones. This magical force, however, was not conjured by a wand, but by her own two hands. Wandless magic is not uncommon, but this form had not been seen since the Pharos Aroweek, 20,000 years ago.  
This 'forcefeild' could be described as a slightly translucent shield with a blue glow emanating off of it. It performed its task by not only shielding it owner and family, but also by causing the curse to bounce back with such a force, that the evil disappeared, without a trace. From that night on, Aurora's emotions triggered mysterious side affects. (See emotions, page 257). When she was angry, the room began to shake and rise in temperature,  
When she was sad a violent thunderstorm would occur, and so on with other emotions . . .  
Aurora Emeralds later married a man named Leo Gryffindor, and thus began the Gryffindor family tree. (For information on Gryffindor see pages 10056-20043).'

"This has to be it" Harry pronounced once he finished the passage. "It all fits. That shield thing that I made must have been the same one that Aurora conjured. It also said that she married a man named Gryffindor, and didn't you figure out that the Gryffindor line was bonded, magically, to Dumbledore, my mother and me? Also, look what happened when I got angry with Snape at the Dursleys. The room shook and the temperature went up, just like Aurora"  
"Yes, it all seems to fit perfectly, but we have only one problem." McGonagall said thoughtfully.  
"What?" Harry asked, clearly confused.  
"The only way that we can train you is if you are in some sort of danger, or if one of your loved ones is in danger. Also, your going to hate me for saying this, you are going to have to work on controlling you emotions, clearly from that passage, they can grow to be a very dangerous weapon"  
Harry grumbled and laid his head, face down on the table. "So, what are we going to do? Clearly I am not in any danger, and I am not 'emotionally distraught'." Harry said, his face was still on the table, so he did not see McGonagall get up and draw her wand.  
"Wanna bet?" McGanagall said in a low voice. She had her wand pointed right at Harry's heart. Harry snapped his head up once he heard McGonagall's tone and was shocked beyond all imagination to find her pointing her wand at him.  
"Pro-professor- wh-what are you doing?" Harry asked shakily.  
"Say goodbye, Harry potter." She raised her wand and Harry heard the most frightening thing he had ever heard.  
"AVADA-" McGonagall began. Harry jumped out of his seat and checked his pockets for his wand. 'DAMN IT' he silently cursed himself, he forgot the fact that he left his wand n his bed stand. So he did the next thing that came to mind . . .  
He RAN.  
He was out of the room before he got the chance to hear McGonagall say the ending to the spell. He ran to the kitchen and to the door that led to the living room but . . .Damn it was locked. Harry heard a slight squeak behind him and saw McGonagall standing in the doorway, leaning on the door frame.  
"Harry, Harry, Harry, say goodnight." She raised her hands for the second time.  
Harry was trapped and he was scared. He was so scared that he did not even hear the spell that McGonagall spoke. But he did hear a large . . .  
BANG

He opened his eyes and McGonagall was gone. He started to panic . . .He killed professor McGonagall. That was when he heard something that he was not expecting, he heard laughing. He quickly walked across the room and he looked through the doorway. He looked down and saw McGonagall on her side laughing hysterically.  
"Ummm, Professor, what just happened" Harry asked. McGonagall sat up in the seating position and wiped a tear from her eye, "What happened is you just passed your first lesson"

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


	16. Chapter 16: The secrets of the West Wing

Chapter 16: The secrets of the West Wing 

RECAP: "Ummm, Professor, what just happened" Harry asked. McGonagall sat up in the seating position and wiped a tear from her eye, "What happened is you just passed your first lesson."

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Harry was so confused. He went through the series of events through his head one more time.  
'O.K.' he thought 'we were both reading, I found out about Aurora Emerald, and then McGonagall attacked me. Now she is sitting and laughing like it was one big joke? This is so messed up. O.K. lets go through this one more time. First . . .' Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his professor speak.  
"Harry, come help me up please." Harry hesitated a moment before he made his way in front of her, grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. She proceeded to dust herself off and then she walked back to the library with out a word. Harry was left standing there, even more confused then he was before.  
"Come Harry" he heard McGonagall call, he stopped all of his thinking and he quickly made his way to the library; were McGonagall was patiently waiting.

Harry walked into the room, breathing slightly faster from the quick jog, and looked up to find his professor sitting in one of the chairs, her hands folded neatly in her lap, and no emotion was set on her strict features (which had exceedingly warmed up thanks to the presence of Harry).  
"O.K. What the Hell just happened?" Harry asked, getting rather angry at this point. McGonagall let herself smirk before her stone features combed back over her face.  
"Well, you just passed the first lesson . . "  
"Yes you have informed me of that after you attacked me!" Harry said steamingly.  
"I will not tolerate you interrupting me. If you do it again then I will just have to leave you in the dark about what has happened today. Now, you have passed your first lesson; this is said in the context of the fact that I was giving you a hidden lesson. As soon as you told me that your powers would have to be triggered by your emotions I quickly devised a plan. I figured that if I somehow frightened you then you would be able to conjure your force field and stop me. I do apologize, but that was the first plan that came to mind."  
"But professor, I heard you use the Avada curse." Harry spoke.  
"No you did not. You heard me say the beginning of the curse, but you were not in the room long enough to hear the second part. Harry, I would never use an unforgivable curse on you, that would be, well, unforgivable," McGonagall stated and Harry noticed that, when she said the part about never using an unforgivable on him, her cool face warmed into something sweet, something that he did not recognize, and something that he would love to see again.  
Both were torn out of their trances when McGonagall's house elf popped in.  
"Miss McGonagall ma'am, I is here to inform you that the headmaster is comes to see you."  
"Oh, thank you very much and tell him that I will be right down."  
The House elf bowed low and retreated with a 'POP'.  
"Well Harry, it looks like our lesson will be cut a little short, you may take this tome to do whatever you wish, just do not go outside.  
"Yes, ma'am."  
McGonagall stood up and walked out of the room. Harry sat there for a moment and figured that he had not REALLY toured the house; so he got up and started his journey.

About an hour and a half later Harry had discovered the gardens, the ballroom, the study room, the guest room and the second library. He was just about to give up his search and go to his room when something caught his eye. He looked down the hallway that he was currently standing in and he saw a door that did not look like any of the other doors. He walked down to the end of the hallway to examine it. He finally reached the door (it was a long hallway) and he began his examination.  
He noticed that the doorframe was made out of a solid black wood with a smooth glaze. He also noticed that the door itself was made out of a deep and beautiful red wood and it was covered with engravings; some of them were as silly as a horse while others looked like ancient runes. He allowed his eyes to travel up to the top of the door where a golden sign read,

"West Wing"

'Uho,' Harry thought ' I remember McGonagall telling to stay away from the west wing.'Harry stared at the door and deliberated for a minute or so until he decided that he did not want to break McGonagall's trust. He started to walk away until something made him stop in his tracks. He heard laughter coming from the other side of the door. He heard a child's laughter. All thoughts about breaking McGonagall's trust were swept away and Harry's curiosity began to spike. He once again walked up to the door and laid his hand on the brass knob. He gripped it tight, but right before he was able to turn it, he heard voices coming down his hall. He quickly released the knob and looked around for some place to hide. The voices were closer now and Harry was like a deer during hunting season. He looked to his left and saw a door.  
'YES' Harry thought and he quickly opened the door and squeezed himself in. His feet were met with dirty buckets and rags and his head was dangerously close to a scummy mop and a dirty broom.  
Harry quickly through his hands over his mouth to mask his breathing when he heard the voices of Dumbledore and McGonagall at the head of the hallway. They walked slightly closer so that they could inspect the room that was only a foot or two away from the room that Harry was stashed in.

"I wonder were Harry is," McGonagall stated. "He must be in his room."  
"You have yet to tell me what is hidden in that room." Harry heard Dumbledore imply.  
"No, I do not believe I have told anyone what lies in the west wing" McGonagall stated.  
"Why, my dear, what are your secrets?" Dumbledore asked interestingly.  
"I believe that my deepest secrets lie only within my deepest fears and my deepest weaknesses. If I told you I would have to kill you," She stated. Dumbledore chuckled and after a moment so did Minerva. Neither Harry nor Dumbledore knew that Minerva meant what she said. If anyone found out her secret . . .she would have to kill them.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


	17. Chapter 17: Decisions

Chapter 17: Decisions 

RECAP: Neither Harry nor Dumbledore knew that Minerva meant what she said. If anyone found out her secret . . .she would have to kill them.

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As soon as Harry sensed that the coast was clear he slowly opened the squeaky door and quickly made his way to his bedroom, where he knew his professors were headed. He made it just in time. He blew through his door and jumped on his bed and picked up the book that was lying on his nightstand. As soon as he opened the book he heard a slight knock from the door.  
"Harry, are you in there?" He heard McGonagall ask politely.  
"Yes, come in," Harry replied with short breath. McGonagall entered at Harry's notice while Dumbledore contented himself with staying by the doorframe.  
"What are you up to?" McGonagall asked curiously as she looked at the strange teenage boy. "Nothing, just catching up on my reading." Harry replied, hoping among hope that neither of his professors noticed anything weird.  
"So, when have you learned how to read upside down?" McGonagall asked with her head cocked to the side trying to read the upside-down book. Harry looked down and found that he was, in fact, holding the book upside down.  
'Good job Harry, very smooth!' Harry scolded himself. He quickly put the book down and tried to change the subject. Both professors noticed this but decided to let it rest for a while.  
"Hi professor Dumbledore, how are you?" Asked Harry hurriedly.  
"I'm fine, thank you, and you? I have heard of your discoveries and I would like to discuss them over a nice lunch?" Dumbledore replied. Harry looked up to McGonagall for confirmation and when he received it he looked back to Dumbledore.  
"It's a plan, I'm just going to change and I will meet you guys in the living room." Harry stated. Dumbledore clapped his hands together and with one last glace he and McGonagall made their way to the living room to wait for Harry.

Five minuets later Harry emerged from his bedroom wearing a regular pair of blue jeans and a solid white shirt with a simple through over. He tried to contain his hair, and failed. He walked over to the fireplace, where his shoes were sitting, and slid them on.  
"Ready," he pronounced and with that all three of them grabbed a handful of floo powder and spoke the location. Harry had no idea where 'Phoenix Manner' was but he was interested in finding out.  
Within a few seconds time Harry found himself standing in a HUGE hallway.  
The walls were made out of well-built, sturdy stone (like the old castles) and banisters and portraits were hung on every wall. Most of these portraits, Harry noticed, were replicas of famous inventors, men and women of history, and also there was a section of the hall dedicated to portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts.  
'Hum, is this Dumbledore's house?' Harry mused as he followed his professors into the next room, which, only lead to another long hallway, resembling the first.  
When they all finally reached their destination, another closed, and locked door, they had to wait as Dumbledore took out an iron ring of over a thousand keys.  
"Oh, dear," Dumbledore pronounced as he started to place each key in the empty keyhole, each without success. Harry took this time to glance around. He admired the portraits, who all looked at him with curiosity, amusement, and some reacted with hiding behind their chair (or whatever was painted in their surroundings). He then adventured a little farther to where he saw a door with many different colors shining from under the door's underfoot. He looked back at his professors, who both seemed to have their attention glued to their latest puzzle, and turned the handle to the colorful room. Surprisingly the door opened and what graced Harry's eyes made him want to fall to the ground in laughter.

His eyes fell, firstly, upon the clown wallpaper, which was pasted to every bit of wall. He then discovered a pile of tinker toys, stuffed animals, and any other muggle toy you could possibly think of. 'Yep', Harry thought, 'this is DEFINITELY Dumbledore's house.'  
Harry allowed himself a slight chuckle before he closed the door and returned to his waiting place next with his professors.  
Finally Dumbledore found the correct key and they each made their way into the newly opened room.

It was Gorgeous.

The walls were a dark golden, like and spindle of golden thread, the ceiling was a spiral of deep violet and dark blue with sparks of red and emerald which, twisted and turned as if it were a formation of a severe tornado. The couches were made out of soft velvet, which reflected a beautiful red color, which matched perfectly with the thick curtains, which withheld the rays of the reaching sun. There was a desk, which quietly sat at the end of the room, which was a scrumptious cherry wood with a comfy looking chintz chair relaxing behind it. The floors were hardwood except for the throw rug, which resembled the swirling ceiling, but its colors were replaced with a whirl of deep and shallow blues.  
"I love this room, it is, and has always been my favorite." Dumbledore stated as he looked at the expression, which had captured Harry's glazed, and wondering eyes. Harry quickly snapped out of his gaze and looked over to his headmaster who wore his usual 'all-knowing' twinkle. "I can see why sir, it is beautiful," Harry stated with his gaze returning to the glories of the room.  
"I thought you would like it!" Dumbledore said and he made his way to his desk at the back of the room and he swished his wand to make two more chairs vaporize and place themselves in front of the desk. He sat down, ready for discussion.  
"Well, you were right." Harry said as he followed Dumbledore's example and sat in the chair provided, McGonagall caught on and also took a seat.  
"Now Harry, would you mind filling me in on what you have discovered during your stay at Professor McGonagall's"  
Harry took a deep breath and retold the series of events to his Headmaster. He started off by describing, in detail, the passage that he found about Aurora Emeralds and then he told about how McGonagall figured out that if this passage was true then she would have to find some way to frighten him. This was when Harry had to stop and look down to hide the red-hot blush that was threatening to take over his cheeks. Minerva smiled and finished the tale. Dumbledore nodded, seemingly deep in thought. The room was silent for a period when finally Dumbledore spoke his thoughts, without looking at either of his companions.

"I think I know how we can train you, you may not like it, but it is the only plan that I can think of at the moment." He went beck into his deep thought. "Yes, this will do for the time being. Harry," Dumbledore continued, finally looking at him, "I think I have found a way to, well, frighten you into using your shield. As I said, you most likely not like what I will propose use easing to concur this plan, but I do not believe that we have any other means at this moment"  
""What exactly are you proposing sir?" Harry asked, getting a little anxious at this point.  
"I am suggesting that we use a Bogart to reincarnate your fears. Would you be open to doing something like that?" Dumbledore was looking straight into his eyes now. Harry had the feeling that he was trying to use Occlumancy on him so he broke eye contact and fixated his eyes over Dumbledore's shoulder.  
"I do not think that that will be a problem sir, it sounds like I don't have a choice anyways." Harry stated in a matter of fact tone, while he was actually trying to hide what he was really feeling. He honestly did not know what his true fear was anymore. It could be Voldemort, it could be a dementor or it could even be a memory of Sirius.  
"Headmaster, Voldemort is going to come back, isn't he"  
"Yes, I can guarantee it. I have a feeling that he is going to be able to regenerate much quicker now, so we are going to have to start your training right away." Dumbledore stated seriously. "I am afraid you will have to tell me if you are alright with the Bogart right now, we do not have much spare time. Harry looked pensive for a while. He went through thought after thought, ultimatum after ultimatum when suddenly something clicked. 'I have to do this,' Harry told himself. 'If I don't then what is the point of living, what was the point of Sirius dieing to save me, what is the point of anything. If I don't learn how to face my fears and learn how to use these powers then everyone is going to die. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dumbledore and McGonagall will all die. I could not bare it.'  
"I'll do it." He said out loud with determination.  
Dumbledore smiled a weak smile and informed Harry that he would be taking over Harry's lessons for tomorrow.

Harry and Minerva stood up and prepared to leave. Harry shook Dumbledore's hand and Dumbledore, in turn, bent over and tenderly placed a kiss on Minerva's hand. They bid each other good night and both Harry and Minerva disappeared within the lashing of the green flames. Dumbledore stared at the flames, contemplating what his next plan should be. "Oh Harry, what am I going to do with you," he solemnly said before he decided that it was time for a nightcap and he could here his feathered mattress calling his name. "Till tomorrow my boy" He said before he turned off the lights and left the room in darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


	18. Chapter 18: Emotions

Chapter 18: Emotions 

The golden rays of the sun streamed into the windows and the cracks of the ancient, yet beautiful manner. The stone walls softly surrendered to the light, as if they were born to serve the sun, by day and as if they lived to entrance the moon by the cool, dark night. It was like clockwork. When the sun rose to greet the sky, the manner would stand firmly, yet calmly, as it absorbed the friendly grasps of the sunshine. But by night the manner would not sleep, oh no, at night the manner would transform into something unrecognizable to the welcoming home which stood during the daylight hours. By night It would become something strong, dark, and mysterious.  
As one grows older they seem to realize that the secrets which reside within their heart often find there way into the cracks and the crevasses of the walls to which they can call there home. Your deepest and darkest secrets become those secrets which are shared between you and your sanctuary. The McGonagall manner was a manner of beauty, splendor, secrets and mysteries. It was one of those manners which made you feel safe and protected in the sun, but it gave you chills and the frights at night. A house is what the owner makes it, Minerva McGonagall's house is the perfect example of this belief. Many secrets lie within the heart of this stern professor, some cheery and loving, others cold and sad. Minerva McGonagall is, behind the frown marks which lay so roughly on her features, a woman who feels love and comfort and emotion. Many people do not think this though. They do not think this because Minerva is so good at covering what she is feeling. She gives off such a strict and controlled aura that nobody ever even thinks twice about asking how her day was or how she was feeling because they think that she feels the same thing all of the time. When she cries on the inside, she looks cheery on the outside, when sheis raging and angry on the inside sheis quiet and sober on the outside. To many, Minerva McGonagall is a complete mystery, but to one she is, and will always remain, an open book. Minerva had only once, wholly, giver her heart to someone, and her heart was returned, smashed and broken. This is why Minerva is so cool and commanding. This is also why she, often, has found herself wandering the halls of her home, feeling a sense of companionship, and also feeling a sense of emptiness. You would often find her roaming around in one particular hallway, the hallway the which leads to the door to the West Wing. Each night she would walk up to the entrance door and she would softly whisper, in a rare and loving voice: "goodnight precious," and she would then presume to go to bed. She rarely entered the door though. It was as if something was drawing her to the door every night, yet something else seemed to be pushing her hand away from the doorknob. Something mysterious and, obviously, important lied behind this elaborate entry way to the West Wing, but Minerva was not yet ready to confess her secret to anyone, not even to herself.

The clock chimed 9:00 when Harry's eyes had decided to grace the sun with their brilliant, green presence. Harry stretched and yawned before he hopped out of his bed and began to make his way toward the kitchen. Once he swung open the door he started to make his way toward the refrigerator. Goosebumps traveled up and down Harry's arms and spine as his, warm, bare feet met the cold and clammy floor tile. As he pulled out the orange juice McGonagall walked into the room wearing a sad and detached expression on her face. She seemed to take no notice that Harry was in the room. Harry took this moment to really look at his professor. He started with her face. Her hair was still in a bun, but not the skin-tight painful looking one which she wore at Hogwarts, this bun was loose and sloppy. Harry noticed that, without her hair pulling her skin so tight, she had a lot more wrinkles than he had remembered her having, but these wrinkles were not the regular wrinkles. McGonagall's wrinkles each told a separate story. Harry noticed that the deeper the wrinkles ran, the more painful the memory must have been, the lighter wrinkles around her mouth, on the other hand, told stories of laughter and joy. Harry then moved to her eyes. Her piercing hazel eyes were like two calm oceans which were no easily rustled by slight winds, these eyes, Harry summarized, would have to encounter a raging storm to become even the slightest bit unsettled. Harry also found comfort in her eyes, they seemed to hold a genuine kindness which, Harry also guessed, has been given to few people. At the moment Harry also noticed that there was a sense of wandering in her eyes, as if she had lost something that she was trying desperately to find and hold on to. Her eyes suddenly took on a glow of confusion and surprise, Harry had not even thought that this change could have possibly been caused by his staring, point-blank, at her. She slightly cleared her throat to get Harry's attention.  
"Harry, what may I ask is so interesting about my face?" Asked McGonagall, not expecting to receive a straight answer, but surprisingly that is what she got.  
"A lot actually," Harry stated as if he were still in a strange trance. McGonagall cocked her head to the side in surprise.  
"For example," she prompted him. This seemed to snap Harry out of his own little world and bring him back to reality.  
"Oh, w-what, I just sort of drifted off there, did you say something?" Harry asked, genuinely not knowing that he had said anything. McGonagall knitted her brow in suspicion and slowly sat down in one of the kitchen chairs.  
"Never mind," she stated and dropped the subject, but she kept that moment in the back of her mind for future use. "Harry, professor Dumbledore will be arriving at ten for your lesson."  
"How long will this one last?" Harry questioned.  
'Well, it will last until the Headmaster has accomplished what he is coming here to accomplish," McGonagall stated in her 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone.  
"Do you know what I will be learning today?" Harry asked, trying to start conversation.  
"No, actually I do not. I doubt, though, that Professor Dumbledore will have you do anything drastic"  
"Oh like maybe charging after me and threatening to kill me!" Harry teased, bringing up his first lesson. McGonagall smiled and gave a light chuckle before she checked her watch and ushered Harry to change out of his P.Js before Dumbledore arrived.

When the tenth and final bell chime, rung a green light ignited and the wise form of Albus Dumbledore stepped from out of the heath and into the living room.  
"Hello Professor." Harry stated as he watched Dumbledore brush off the fireplace's stray ashes. Dumbledore looked up at the familiar voice and smiled.  
"Good morning m'boy, I trust you slept well," he politely commented, secretly hoping if he could get some information about how he was truly doing. Unfortunately he just receive the same programmed shrug of the shoulders. McGonagall entered the room and warmly greeted her employer, who, in turn, warmly greeted her in return.  
"Now Harry today I thought we would work on those emotions of yours," Dumbledore stated while looking over his half moon spectacles. "Minerva, if we could use a spare room."  
"Of course, you may use the second library, it is far more roomier than the others." Harry and Dumbledore followed McGonagall until they came to a large room which was fondly known as the Second Library. Dumbledore swiftly looked over the room and satisfyingly turned to his fellow companions.  
"Yes, this will work perfectly. Please Harry take a seat on the couch." Dumbledore nodded to a comfy looking couch which was located in the middle of the room. Harry did as he was told, while McGonagall and Dumbledore simply conjured up chairs of their own and seated them, comfortably, right across from Harry. "Now, I figured that there is only two ways in which we can raise up a certain emotion from you. One: is to chase you around the house, as Professor McGonagall has demonstrated," Harry and McGonagall smirked at each other for a swift moment before they both averted their attention back to Dumbledore. "Or there is option number two." Dumbledore then pulled out several potion vials, each containing a different color liquid. "These, Harry, are called Emotion Potions, they are used to take a particular emotion currently residing within a person and to spike it up to higher levels"  
"Sort of like what Voldemort used on Aunt Petunia?" Harry questioned.  
"Well, in a way, but not exactly. Voldemort used a very powerful spell on your Aunt, one that I am not willing to try on a teenage boy. Now, this potion," Dumbledore pointed to the vile which contained a crimson red liquid, "will be used to spike you anger. The blue for your sorrow, the yellow for you happiness and the purple is for your annoyance. Now, before we can use any of these we are going to have to perform some short exercises. First I want you to wipe your mind clean, clear any mixed thoughts or emotions, fill yourself with peace and assurance." Harry closed his eyes and focused on everything that he was feeling at that moment. This was slightly difficult because he kept thinking about how much he HATED people telling him to 'clear his mind' and 'rid yourself of all emotion'. "Well," Harry thought to himself, "The annoying potion is going to be a difficult one." Harry quickly wiped this thought away and he found himself in a place of comfortable darkness, he could not feel a thing.  
"Now Harry, I am going to say a few things that are going to set a particular emotion into your mind. I will say something that will make you angry, sad, happy, and annoyed. You must try to separate your emotions into separate groups in you mind. Are you ready?" Dumbledore questioned and at the assuring nod he began to name off his planned triggers.

"Flying on you Firebolt, hoisting up the Quiditch cup as your team cheers for you."

BAM, Harry instantly felt the warmth of happiness.

"Draco Malfoy making the Quiditch team."

BAM, a tingle of annoyance danced in his mind. Harry instantly separated his happiness and his annoyance with little difficulty.

"Me not telling you of the prophecy sooner." (that one saddened Dumbledore, but it was the first thing that came to his mind.)

BAM, Red Hot anger leapt into his mind. This time, it was a little more difficult to separate the three emotions, they were each trying to mingle and clash with each other.

"Sirius."

BAM, the cold grasp of deep sadness took possession of his mind and suddenly he felt other emotions trying to invade his mind. GUILT CONFUSION SHAME . . . all pushing him to his limits. Harry took a deep breath and viciously pushed all of his other emotions away, flaring his anger in the process. When he finally had everything under complete control, he gave a slight nod to Professor Dumbledore as a way to ask for his next direction.

"Now Harry, I am going to ask you to single out your anger. Keep all of your other emotions separate, but single out your anger. I am going to give you the anger potion and all you have to do is try to control your anger , try to keep it at bay. When you drink it you feel a sudden urge of power, something that you have never felt before, I just need you to concentrate and control it. Do you think you can do that Harry?" Dumbledore asked seriously. Harry hesitantly gave a quick nod and downed the potion, with eyes still closed. Suddenly, everything began to fade as a reddish smoke suffocated his mind. His heart began to leap with hatred and disgust. Harry felt a burning urge in his chest, an urge to yell, break, and kill.  
The temperature of the room started to rise the furniture slightly began shaking, and the sky outside looked as tough as thick black cloud was suffocating the sun and its warmth and light.  
"Concentrate Harry." Dumbledore firmly ordered.  
Harry closed his eyes tighter. He was trying to put out the blazing fire but every time he made some sort of progress more memories flew into his mind's eye.

FLASH: Harry was smashing Dumbledore's possessions

FLASH: Snape was taunting him during Occlumancy lessons

FLASH: Dudley was teasing him and watching as Aunt Marge's Pit Bull chased him up the tree

FLASH

FLASH

FLASH

Memory after memory blocked his senses.  
"Harry Concentrate." Dumbledore said a bit harshly. Harry's eyes flew open to reveal, not two green eyes but, two pitch black, swallowing tunnels.  
"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO FOOL!" Harry screamed in a deep and dangerous voice. Suddenly the furniture in the room lifted into the air and smashed into the walls. All of the books started to fling off of their shelves. McGonagall gave a panicked cry and Dumbledore quickly took out his wand and muttered: "Emotiona"  
Harry's black eyes swirled back to reveal the normal green, and the sky cleared to show the reaching blue with the bright sun.

Harry was breathing rapidly. "Oh my Merlin!" Harry stated, half in disbelief, half in pain. Harry jumped out of his chair and looked around the room in a panic, noticing what he had done to the room. "Oh my Merlin what have I done." Harry muttered into the dense silence which had filled the destroyed room.  
"We have a lot of work to do." Dumbledore stated, more to himself then to the others. "Harry, are you alright?" Dumbledore asked with concern in his voice. Harry did not answer, all he could do was observe the damage that he had caused, it made him think. If he could do that much damage with a little potion, then how much damage is he going to be able to do when he is really and truly angry? The thought scared him more than anything else, he was afraid of himself!  
Harry's lack of response started to worry both professors.  
"Harry? Harry, are you alright?" McGonagall asked. Harry looked up with fear in his eyes. "I guess I am," he shakily answered, unsure of everything around him.  
"Why don't we have some breakfast, the affects and the after-affects of the potions can be quite shocking to some people. Come m'boy." Dumbledore beckoned and Harry hesitantly did as he was told and followed his headmaster into the kitchen where the House Elves had whipped up a scrumptious looking breakfast.

Dumbledore was right. After Harry had had something to eat he was not so shaky and he was pretty much back to normal by the end of the meal. Dumbledore informed Harry that they would do this every Thursday and that he would speak to other order members to see if they could come over and lend a hand. They cleared the dishes and Dumbledore bid his goodbyes before he disappeared in a wisp of green flame.  
"Professor, I was wondering if I could take a short rest before we do anything else today? That potion really wiped me!" Harry asked. McGonagall offered up a soft smile.  
"Of course you can." Harry thanked her and started to walk to his room. McGonagall stayed in the kitchen for a little while and thought about what had happened after Harry had taken the potion. She kept seeing the image of his black eyes in her mind. She was terrified, she was still a little shaky. How could so much anger be present in such a small and young body and heart? Minerva decided that the best thing to do right now was to take a nice stroll around her house to clear her mind. About a half of an hour later she found herself standing at the base of THE hallway. As she stood there she seemed to be feeling a strange magnetic like pull toward the door at the end of the hallway. In a trance-like state she began to walk slowly down the hallway. Her senses were on high alert at the moment, every creek the floor made was heard, every uneven piece of carpet was felt, ever musty smell was smelt, but only the door was seen. she finally reached the door and placed her hand on the cool metal doorknob. She was just about to turn the handle when an unusually large creek was pronounced by the carpet, signaling that someone or something was coming. After a moment Minerva figured that it was ridiculous and she made her way to her bedroom, she figured that she needed a nap as well. When the coast was clear, Harry made his way out of the shadow and he stared at door where his professor had only recently been standing. He just had to know what was in that room and he was going to find out tonight, at midnight.

TO BE CONTINUE . . .

A/N: LOL sorry about the cliff hanger, I promise I will tell you about the West Wing in the next chapter.


	19. Chapter 19: Minerva

Chapter 19: Minerva's secret 

RECAP: When the coast was clear, Harry made his way out of the shadow and he stared at door where his professor had only recently been standing. He just had to know what was in that room and he was going to find out tonight, at midnight.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The old clock banged 12 times, each containing a hint of caution and curiosity. Tonight was the night. Midnight was the time in which Harry's curiosity would be fulfilled. What secrets did Minerva McGonagall hide, what mysteries are so secret that no one but the holder may share?  
It was midnight and it was time to find out.

Harry waited patiently in his room and in his bed until he heard each individual chime from the grandfather clock which had become so accustomed to hearing. Once he was sure of the time he threw his covers to the side, grabbed his wand and walked to the door from his room. He slowly turned the knob and cautiously opened the door as to try to avoid the infernal and, as Harry quickly found out, inevitable squeak and creek which seemed to follow every door ever created. As soon as it was open Harry peaked his head out and, once he was sure that no house elves were around, finished exposing the rest of himself. Harry had been living in the house long enough to know where he was going without a light but, just incase, Harry raised his wand and whispered:  
"Lumos minimum," and from his wand protruded a slight light which only covered a foot or so.  
About five minutes passed when he finally found it, the hallway of the West Wing.

Footstep after footstep he made his way toward the door. With each step he felt his heart pump just a little bit faster. Faster and faster it pumped, the footsteps rang through his head. Harry did not know what to feel at this moment. He was feeling anxious, excited, and a little scared. This was Minerva McGonagall he was dealing with, if there was a secret that would be kept by such a closed and strict women, then it had to be a large one. Harry also discovered that he was slightly sad. He had gained a reasonably close relationship with his professor and he did not want to mess it up. Suddenly the footsteps stopped.

Harry stood there, feet separated himself and one of the biggest secrets that he could ever discover, but for some reason he could not go any farther. Did he really want to do this? Did he have enough faith in their friendship, to go and betray her like this?  
Was it really worth it?  
Harry was about to walk away, determined to leave well enough alone when he heard it. He heard giggling, a little boys giggle. "What the," Harry said, once again all thoughts of walking away were viciously drown away by his insensitive curiosity. He had to go in, he was drawn in. There was something about that laugh that hypnotized him, it sounded so happy and free.

Harry closed the short distance which separated him and the beautiful door, he placed his hand on the knob, took and deep breath and turned the knob. This door, like every other, also emitted a squeak, but this one was not annoying or ear piercing, this one, for some odd reason, was rather beautiful and graceful. Harry took another step inside of the room, which was hidden in darkness, in exception to another light which was illuminating from what looked to be another door.  
"Lumos Maximus," Harry whispered and the room was illuminated in light. What graced Harry's eyes shocked him and stunned him into a silence. The room was covered in baby wallpaper with moving clouds and flying cars, the room was small and it was filled with toys, children's toys.

Harry looked and found that the walls were also covered with framed and unframed photographs of a little boy, a little over five or six with messy black hair and a pair of large and stunning icy blue eyes, running around, playing with colorful balls, and even some where of him slumbering peacefully in a little bed that looked to be as if it were designed just for him.  
'what is this place' Harry thought to himself? He kept walking, almost tripping on one of the balls shown in one for the many photographs, going toward the other door which sat at the back of the small room. As Harry got closer he heard other noises coming from behind the second door, and this time it was not joyful, it was sad. Harry heard sounds that resembled the sounds of sobs, desperate sobs.  
This unnerved Harry. Who was crying?

Harry grabbed the brass handle of the ordinary door and slowly began turning it, but was suddenly stopped.  
The door was locked.  
'Aw well' Harry thought as he raised his wand again and whispered "Alohamora." A slight click sounded, indicating that the door was free from the locking position. 'Thank you Hermione' Harry thought before he slowly opened the door.  
What he saw shocked him, once again, into a silence, but this time, the silence was a terrified silence. For sitting in a wooden chair in the middle of the room was none other than McGonagall, hunched low over something that was grasped in her hands.

Harry had completely forgotten about the door, which had swung closed when Harry released it, causing a slight "bang" to echo through the dry air.  
Minerva's head snapped around so quickly that Harry had no time to react.  
Her face changed from surprised to angry in a matter of seconds. Harry stood frozen in his spot, what had he walked in on?  
"What are you doing in here?" Minerva asked in a dangerously low and chilling voice. "I thought I told you never to come in here" She said as she slowly stood, her nostrils flared and patches of color covered her face.  
"I am so sorry Professor I just. . .I just. . ." Harry stuttered but he had no chance to finish.  
"I TOLD YOU NEVER TO COME IN HERE. DID YOU THINK THAT IT WAS JUST A JOKE. WELL. . .HAHA. . THE JOKE IS ON ME NOW ISN'T IT"  
"No Professor I just. . ." Harry stammered as he slowly began backing away from his professor who was slowly making her way closer to him.  
"You just what, you were curious? Huh, you wanted to stick your nose where it did not belong"  
"I. . .I" Harry began, his back was now flush with the wall, but McGonagall kept coming nearer.  
"WHAT POTTER, TELL ME"  
"I am so sorry professor," Harry confessed, he was now creeping his way along the wall around the room, she was getting too close!  
"Ooh, you're sorry are you. Sorry for what exactly? Sorry for trespassing? Sorry for breaking any trust that we might have had? DAMN IT TELL ME," she screamed and she launched herself at Harry. Thankful enough Harry saw this coming so he had enough time to jump out of the way and to put the chair in-between himself and McGonagall. This was not the best obstacle, for McGonagall simply threw it aside, closing the distance between herself and her pupil.  
"Professor please. . .I didn't know. . .I didn't know," Harry whispered, he had to admit, he was afraid. That was when Harry stumbled over something that was lying on the floor. McGonagall saw that Harry was sidetracked and she took the opportunity to pounce again. Harry was to distracted to dodge the attack this time and only managed to half get away. McGonagall grabbed a reasonably large amount of Harry's shirt and pushed him up against the wall. Their faces were a mere foot apart and Harry could see everything through her eyes. He saw pain and hurt and sadness, a sadness too deep for him to even recognize. He moved his eyes from her face and found the source that had caused him to stumble. It was another photograph. This one was different though, this one was framed in gold and the contents were something that Harry had never seen before. The picture was of the same little boy, just this time he was riding on the back of a young women, a younger McGonagall, and both of there faces bore smiles that were larger than Harry had ever seen. Who was that little boy? Harry, once again, locked eyes with his professor who was still trembling from head to foot, and said with a surprising amount of tenderness and kindness due to their current position:  
"Who is he?" That was it, that was all he had to say and McGonagall's eyes turned from anger and rage to unbelievable sadness. She knew that Harry was referring to the photographs that he had seen and she gripped onto Harry's shirt even tighter.  
Harry closed his eyes and waited for the explosion, but it never came. He felt lighter all of the sudden and he opened his eyes to find that McGonagall had released his shirt and now sat pitifully on the floor.

Harry had no idea how long he had stood there, watching in wonder and in still shock as his professor, his advisor, this stern women silently wept. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, he bent down so that he was at her level and whispered,  
"it's o.k., I'm here." McGonagall launched at Harry again, but not out of furry, but out of desperation. Harry sat beside her and just held her. He had never seen her so sad, so torn and so desperate. Finally after a good half of an hour Minerva released Harry and hung her head shamefully.  
"I'm sorry Harry," Minerva whispered, "I had no right to lash out at you like that, what happened was not your fault"  
"Professor, what happened?" Harry asked, concern clear in his voice.  
"Nothing Harry, nothing to worry about," Minerva responded half-heartedly while wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. "Nothing, you call that nothing. Professor I have never seen you so torn. Clearly this is something big, you can tell me." Harry bent over and picked up the picture, whose glass was busted due to Harry stepping on it, and faced it toward Minerva. "Who is this little boy?" Harry asked again a little more sternly.  
Minerva looked at the picture sadly and then gently took it from Harry. After a few long moments she got up the courage to speak. She said softly:  
"He was my son"  
Harry could pick out her emphasis on the word 'was' and decided that this was not the perfect time to fall into shock again so he kept prodding her. "What happened to your son Professor"  
Minerva closed her eyes as if she was reliving a memory in her head.  
She took out her wand and conjured her penceive to here. The ancient bowl landed between the two with a 'thump', McGonagall remained with her eyes closed as she pointed her wand at her temple and extracted a silver stream of memory and inserted it into the puddle of mist. "You go ahead Harry, I have seen this memory far too many times!" Harry nodded his head and took the plunge.

A moment later he found himself standing in the middle of a wizard supermarket. It did not take him long to find his Professor standing in the line at the register, her arms filled with various necessities. She was younger, she looked to be in her late twenties, early thirties. Her hair was not in its usual bun, it was let free and sprawled over her back and around her shoulders. Harry also noticed that her face looked less stressed, her face looked free and happy, even though it was not smiling. She looked content. Harry's attention was soon diverted to a little boy, her son he presumed, who came running up to her.

_"JACOB, hey buddy what did you find?" A younger McGonagall asked as the little boy with black hair and bright blue eyes ran up, dancing with excitement as he held out a little, toy, bright red car. "What does it do?" She asked as she bent down to his level and looked at the car with pretend interest.  
"Watch," Jacob whispered and he placed the car on the ground and pressed a button which resided on the top. Suddenly the car's engine roared and the car lifted off into the air and began flying in circles around Minerva. Jacob giggled in delight as he watched as is mother goofingly tried to bat the car away. The car finally reared down and became a regular old car again. Jacob looked up at Minerva with that puppy do look in his eyes.  
"Now Jacob, did you know that that was going to happen?" Minerva asked in mock disapproval. Jacob's face fell into a pout as he slowly nodded his head. Minerva's face suddenly broke into a smile,  
"Well I personally thought that it was very. . .oh what's the word, cool and I think that we just have to buy it!" Jacob gave his mother a huge grin before he set the toy car on the counter, for they were up next.  
"That will be 76.95" the blonde sails girl said crabbily.  
"Okay," Minerva responded and handed the women a bag of coins, which she took and counted and then carried onto the next customer._

_"MOMMY, can I have it now, can I have it now, please, please, please?" Jacob pleaded as soon as they stepped out of the store.  
"Play with what Jacob, what could possibly be in this little old grocery bag that you could POSSIBLY want?" Minerva exaggerated.  
"The car mommy the car," Jacob replied and started to dance around as if he needed to use the bathroom.  
"Ooh that. Silly me! Just do not push the button while we are in the crowded street, we don't want anything bad to happen." Jacob nodded and with that Minerva reached into her bag, bent down and handed her son the toy car. The boy took the car and launched at his mother, giving her a HUGE bare-hug.  
"I love you so much mommy." Jacob whispered in her ear.  
"I love you too sweetheart," Minerva responded with just as big of a hug. "Here give me your hand," Minerva stated and Jacob grabbed her hand lovingly and started to play with his toy with the other hand.  
The two started to make their way down the sidewalk when a distracted man walked straight into them, knocking the grocery bag out of Minerva's hand. Out of instinct Minerva dropped her sons hand and went down to pick up her fallen groceries which were now spread out in a gigantic mess. The man also bent down and started to help Minerva with her groceries. She did not even notice that her son had left her side. Jacob accidentally pushed the button on the top of the car once his mother had let go of his hand. The car zoomed off in the direction of the street, where the cars rushed by._

_Minerva had finally gotten all of her things together and the man had rushed off in a hurry. Minerva took a second to compose herself and was about to turn to her son when she heard someone from across the street screaming, "THE BOY, SOMEONE GET THE BOY"  
Minerva had just enough time to turn around and see her son rushing out in front of a speeding car, chasing after his flying toy.  
"JACOB," both Harry and Minerva screamed together and Minerva started to run into the streets after him, but it was useless, the car did not have enough time to stop.  
Minerva dropped to her knees and screamed._

The scene faded and Harry found himself sitting in a small room next to the same women who he had just witnessed losing her son.  
"Ooh, my Merlin," Harry whispered and looked up at his Professor who had had her eyes closed the entire time.  
"That is why I am the way I am Harry. After that day, I was never the same, I locked myself in this room, his room for months. That was when Albus had come to me and pulled me out into the light and to Hogwarts. My son was my life, he was all that I had, and I lost him. I was destroyed. Today is the anniversary of his death Harry." That is when she had to try to restrain her sobs, she had more to tell Harry. " That is also why I am so protective of you Harry, you remind me so much of my little boy. You have the same hair, the same wide eyes, the same adventurous nature and the same pure and loving heart. I see my son in you Harry. I see him. I love my son Harry, Merlin I miss him so much. After all of these years I still expect him to come running through that door begging me to play hide-and-seek with him." She tried to laugh but it only came out as a bitter sob. "It is NOT fair. Why was he taken away from me, what did he do to deserve that? Hell, what did I do to deserve that? IT IS NOT FAIR," she yelled before she lowered her head and allowed the tears to slide down her cheeks.  
"Absolutely nothing," Harry said, "you are the strongest, smartest and most big-hearted women that I have ever met. You say you see a son in me, well I kind of see a mother in you." At this Minerva's head shifted upwards. "Honestly, I do not know what it is like to have a mother. These past few months have been, excuse my language, hell, and you have been there for me, taking me in. You are the closest thing to a mother that I have ever known"  
Minerva's eyes gleamed with a mixture of sadness and happiness.  
"Thank you Harry, you have know idea what that means to me to hear you say that." Harry then pulled Minerva into another warm hug and responded,  
"Ooh, I think I have an idea!"

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


	20. Chapter 20: Dangerous Fear

Chapter 20: Dangerous Fear 

RECAP.  
"You are the closest thing to a mother that I have ever known." Minerva's eyes gleamed with a mixture of sadness and happiness.  
"Thank you Harry, you have know idea what that means to me to hear you say that. Harry then pulled Minerva into another warm hug and responded,  
Ooh, I think I have an idea!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the days progressed, things around the McGonagall household were running more smoothly then ever before. The relationship that Minerva and Harry had started had grown from one of a professional standard into one of friendship. Ever since Harry had discovered the truth about Jacob, he had viewed Minerva in a new light; He saw her more as a woman, rather than a professor. Professors always seemed to have this strange sort of 'unbreakable' feel about them, but that shield had seemed to falter around Minerva, and she seemed more vulnerable then ever. . .vulnerable, but never weak. Harry knew that he had no need to worry about his professor, for she was quite the formidable woman who could take care of herself if the occasion called for it. Minerva only brought up the memory of her lost son on very few occasions, and when such occasions would occur Harry was understanding and always offered his ears to her. It was funny to think that when Harry had first stepped into Minerva's home he was uneasy and felt uncomfortable; he felt as if he were trespassing on his professor's privacy or something, but now he felt as if he could almost call the place a home. The McGonagall Manner paid absolutely no resemblance to the cold essence of the Dursley's home, nor was it comparable to the joyful invitation reaching from the warm, welcoming Burrow. No, this home was different, it felt more secure and controlled, it felt confident, as if the house only protected its homeowner; its visitors; its cubs.

The days flashed by in a blur of activity. Tonks, Lupin and other order members would come in every Thursday to help Harry control his rather out of control emotions, which seemed to only get more and more agitated each time they were tested. But still, Dumbledore insisted that Harry continue with the training in hopes that, with time, Harry would be able to control himself.

Harry hated these lessons, not only because they forced Harry to face the things to which he feared or hated the most, but because each time he entered the training room he would instantly start to reminisce about the very first lesson with Dumbledore. He would feel the rising temperature, he would see the ominous black clouds wrapping themselves around the warm sun, choking out all chance of warmth, and he could remember the look of icy terror, which rested on both of his professor's faces. Come to think of it, none of the other order members dared to help Harry with his 'anger,' they always tried to help with the agitation or the happiness or the sadness; the anger was always kept safely tucked away until they received a special little visit from the headmaster.

Harry had noticed that with each emotion, things would alter in different ways. For example, when Harry was cheerless, the sky would turn gray, the temperature would drop low and icy cold rain would fall from the saddened eyes of the sky. On the other hand, when Harry felt joy and happiness the sun would shine brighter than it had ever shined, the temperature would hit that perfect feat where it is too warm to wear a jacket, yet too cool for swimming. Things were comfortable and sane when Harry fell into this place of bright light, Harry felt as though the weight of the world was a mere feather, which could easily be supported, but could also easily be blown away. This 'feather' was quickly thrown to the rasping breath of the wind when Harry felt agitated, and the world regained its place on the back of the poor teenage boy. The sky would take on a purple glow, not masking the sun, but making it burst with random shots of energy. The temperature would bounce from 100 degrees to 30 in less than five seconds and Harry would always lash out at people, bringing their weakest points into the lime light and milking them for all they were worth. No order member wanted to deal with Harry's agitation, so they all seemed to nominate Mad Eye Moody for the job (to which he was not at all pleased with.) Moody could always seem to control Harry; Harry may have hit a few loosened or tight cords, but all in all his agitation would grow more and more controlled with each lesson. Funny because as Harry's agitation fizzled away with each lesson, Moody's seemed to grow to outstanding heights. The order always made fun of him for this, but their taunting would abruptly come to an end when they themselves were the ones who were at the butt of Harry's agitation.

Each of his emotions seemed to show substantial improvements each week. Harry's sorrow, glee, agitation were slowly aligning themselves into a perfect, controlled order to the point that Harry could subdue them, for the most part, whenever they wished to pay a visit to the world. Every emotion was progressing, except for Harry's anger. Dumbledore had returned only twice after the first meeting to help Harry with his rage but, unlike the other emotions, each time his fury was brought to the surface, it seemed to grow more powerful and more deadly each time.

As Harry stared lethargically at the towering Grandfather clock, waiting for the seven rings, he thought of how the little Devil on his shoulder would be aroused, leaving the angel who was supposed to rest at his opposite shoulder to its slumber in peace and serenity. Dumbledore would be coming today and Harry had a bad feeling that he had a new tactic up his sleeve; meaning Harry would have to be the Guinea Pig for the experiment. As the last of the seven notes reverberated through McGonagall Manner a green flame burst from Harry's right and, as Harry had suspected, there stood Dumbledore holding what looked to be an average size treasure chest. It was wood plank brown with mossy edges, and it had gold trim lining the sides and striped over the hunched lid. Also, as on every treasure chest, at the very bottom of the lid, near the middle of the chest, rested a golden keyhole, to which Harry had no doubt that Dumbledore held the key. With a grunt, Dumbledore placed the chest on the floor and stood to meet the hesitant and somewhat worried, glance of his pupil. ⌠

"Good evening Harry, I trust all has been well.

"Yes sir, things have been fine. My emotions seem to grow more tame with each lesson. . .well, most of them seem to anyways," Harry replied and Dumbledore watched as Harry's eyes quickly dropped from his own and landed on the chest that he had brought for their new training. "Professor, if you don't mind me asking. . ."

"It will all be explained my dear boy. . .yes I know how much you hate it when people respond to you with such an answer, but all I have to offer you is truth. Now, would you be so kind as to assist me with this chest, it is quite the load to carry for such an old man as myself?" "Oh yes of course, I should have offered," at this show of etiquette and generosity Dumbledore directed a gentle smile towards him before he took one side of the trunk and heaved.

Once in the second library (a.k.a. Harry's training room) the chest was placed in the middle of the mahogany wood floor. Dumbledore then proceeded to summoned two chintz chairs, which softly rested themselves before it. "Now Harry, I do not know if you will recollect, but before your training began I had the semi clever idea of using a Bogart for your training to try to coerce your emotions to show, thus creating the opportunity for you to control them before they controlled you. Within this chest is, in fact, a Bogart that we will be using for your further training."

"Excuse me sir, but how does a Bogart have anything to do with my anger, I thought that a Bogart could only project a person's greatest fear?" Harry questioned, secretly thanking Lupin for his third year introduction of the Bogart and also giving himself a heaping pat on the back for being able to remember such a term.  
"Ah, good point my sharp lad, Bogarts are in fact used to bring out ones fear and that is what we wish of it for this particular lesson," at Harry's, once again, questioning stare, Dumbledore saw fit to continue with his plan. "You see Harry, one of main cores of anger or frustration is fear. Anger is less of a separate emotion and more of the aftermath of fear; a response to fear; a way to handle fear. Of course this is all an assumption but I believe that if you were to concur your fear, to break through that particular barrier, you would be able to claim command over your anger. My plan is to have you face the Bogart, notice your fear and to try with all of your might to control it. There will be no wand, no spell, just you and your fear. If you will not mind, I wish to observe you as you proceed." To this Harry nodded, but before he opened that chest he had a few questions that needed to be cleared.

"Um, professor? What if I can't take control of the Bogart. . .what if I freeze up?"

"If this is, in fact, the case then I grant you the use of your wand to dispel the Bogart for the time being. But keep in mind that the sooner you concur your fear, the sooner you will never have to concur it again. Are you ready?" Dumbledore asked, his sharp blue gaze x-raying Harry over his wired half-mooned spectacles.

Harry closed his eyes, took three calming breaths, trying to clear him mind. Once he had figured that he had done the best that he could possibly do, Harry reopened his eyes and gave Professor Dumbledore the go-ahead. As a response, Dumbledore withdrew from his plum and gooseberry robes a rusty key that he proceeded to place into the golden keyhole. With one last look at Harry, Dumbledore turned the key, threw opened the chest and took a step back for observation, an observation that he had never anticipated.

As the Bogart flew into the air, masking its identity for a moment in a cloud of black smoke, it swirled in a fury, then settled to rest right in front of Harry; registering his fear, and taking its just form. Once the thick smoke evaporated, what was left behind was enough to make Harry's heart stop for two beats and then accelerate to a dangerous speed. Harry had a strong urge to run, but the fascination and the fear of what was resting so coolly in front of him rooted his feet in their place. Honestly, Harry did not know if he wanted to laugh out right or if he wanted to cry, for the absurdity of what he was witnessing was to much for anyone to understand; no one but Harry truly understood why the Bogart would take the form, not of Voldemort, not of a dementor, not even of the prophesized death of his loved ones, but of himself. Standing before Harry, was Harry. The mock Harry stabbed its twin with his abnormally piercing green eyes, which seemed too stimulated to care, too dominant to even register anything but power; dark power. The air around him was one of absolute arrogance as he crossed his arms around his chest and smirked. It took the real Harry a moment to pry his stare from his twins assaulting glance and he began to wonder why he was so afraid of himself. He looked the same, he was just a little more arrogant and self-centered, but that should not have been the cause of Harry's greatest fear. Why did Harry fear himself? As Harry's eyes examined his Bogart form, Harry quickly received his answer once he looked at the lightning bolt scar that had been savagely blasted into its place. Instead if its annual light pink stage, or even blood red, the lightning bolt was pure black. Harry knew what this meant and, without even registering his own movements, Harry began to walk backwards, retreating from himself. The mock Harry must have caught onto the fear in the room for it started to move forward, towards the real Harry. Once they were in a closer range, it stretched out its hand in a silent question. Will you join me? The words went unheard, but Harry knew that the question was being presented to him.

"No, Harry whispered,"it's not true, its not true." Harry repeated this saying until he found his back flush to the wall, with the Bogart still approaching, arm held out, palm outstretched. "Please, NO," Harry shouted as he pulled his wand from his pocket. "Ridiculous" Harry tried, but this only made the Bogart smirk a smirk that Snape would be terribly proud of. "Ridiculous, Ridiculous, RIDICULOUS" Harry tried. Dumbledore was forced to intervene after the Ridiculous spell had clearly failed several time, and as he watched Harry become more and more panicked he had decided that it was time to end it. The Headmaster stepped forward in front of Harry and as Dumbledore's fear began to take form, he himself bellowed the word and all that was left on the floor was one of those mechanical toy monkeys, banging two symbols together.

All that could be heard was the bumbling clashes of the toy monkey, which Dumbledore quickly silenced, and the harsh breathing that emanated from the terrified boy who stood as a young man, but could have been mistaken for only a frightened child. . .petrified of the Boogie Man. Harry closed his eyes once more, trying with all of his might to control his racing heart, pulsing veins and rasping breath, which ripped through his body mercilessly. His memory was running, rushing, begging for some sort of an explanation to uncover what the hell had just happened; all the while he knew the truth, he was just afraid to admit it.

Harry's reverie was shattered by the voice of his Headmaster who spoke gently, yet firmly. "Harry," he uttered, and without a need to continue, for Harry interrupted him, knowing full well what the Headmaster was about to inquire.  
"It's me," he whispered, "I am afraid of myself, I'm evil." The air to which surrounded the pair was thick; thick with a mixture of misunderstanding and final realization. Everything made sense to Harry now, like a puzzle with the pieces falling into place. That was why the Bogart's scar was pitch black, something that black could only be caused by a powerful evil. When Harry was angry his eyes took on the same darkness, the same emptiness, and the way he failed to remember any good, any love could only be in account of one thing. Harry had mercilessly destroyed the room during the first lesson, and as the lessons continued, his anger only grew. Soon he would move past destroying furniture and move on to destroying something far more precious; lives. He was evil, that was why his loved ones seemed to drop dead whenever he was around. He was murdering without even knowing it; but he knew the truth now, and it was not too late to stop himself, it was not too late to save his friends from himself.

Dumbledore walked across the room and made move to place his hand on Harry's shoulder, as a way of directing him to the chair so that he could tell the tale properly, but before his fingers met the cloth of Harry's robes Harry jumped away, eyes burning with frustration and panic. "Don't touch me, don't come near me. . .I'm evil, I know it, I knew it all along. NO, stop, don't come any closer," Harry said hurriedly, dashing as far away from Dumbledore as the room allowed when Dumbledore tried to approach him.  
"Harry this madness, you don't have an evil bone in your body, and you know that. Why else would you have worked so hard to save your friends, and your Godfather. If you were evil then you would have excepted one of Lord Voldemort's several offers for you to join forces with him. Harry, I know that you are scared, I know how. . ."

"OH, there you go again 'I know what your feeling Harry,' Merlin, this is like some sick version of Deja'vu! You DON'T understand, you never have, and you never will. You are seriously blind if you can't see. . ." but before Harry could finish his insult, Dumbledore interrupted, all traces of kind tenderness vanished as he spoke low and harsh.

"What can I not see Harry?" and he raised his finger and pointed it directly at Harry, as if pointing the tip of a sharpened blade, "can I not see how you have been harmed more than you should have within your lifetime? Can I not see the pain in your eyes after you lose someone who was once close to you? Do I not know how it feels to have to fight a dark wizarding Lord without choosing to, but because the world had chosen me to? Can I not count the scars from battles, all physical, mental and emotional? You and I are far more similar then you would like to admit Harry Potter. I have told you time and time before but you just fail to see the fact that you have concurred too much and have lost too many to surrender yourself now. Whether you see it now or not, you are strong, much stronger then I could have ever imagined, and I do not mean because of your new found abilities. Harry, when you first came to Hogwarts you were an innocent little boy, eyes bright with curiosity and wonder. That innocence has yet to dissipate I have noticed. Each year when you enter the castle or congregate once again with your friends, those green eyes of your sparkle with hope. If you were to see through my eyes, you would witness a young man who has grown up through trials and prophecy, but also you would see that little boy, filled with curiosity and love for those whom he calls friends. No evil being that I have encountered would surrender their lives for another selflessly. . .you have done that feat several times. I can understand why you feel conflicted, but what I cannot understand is how you repeatedly ignore the fact that you are loved and you are cherished by many. You are not evil, and you will never be alone in this world dear boy. I am also familiar with that icy cold air of loneliness, and to tell you the absolute truth it has yet to leave me completely. I will be honest when I say that I do not believe that you will ever be rid of the feeling either, but this fact is not crucial enough to be the cause of your thinking. Are we in agreement that you are far from evil?" Dumbledore asked sternly, but Harry did not respond.

"Harry?" Dumbledore stated and Harry raised his eyes to meet Dumbledore's. Green on blue they stared at each other in question and anticipation. Harry had understood what Dumbledore had been saying, but his doubt was not completely buried, and Dumbledore knew it.

"Yes sir," Harry finally spoke indifferently as he broke eye contact with his headmaster, who straightened himself up to his full height and closed his eyes in slight disappointment. Would this boy never learn that he could not hide anything from those scanning blue orbs? He could not hide what was as plain through his eyes as words written on parchment.

"I think that we have had enough for the day Harry, you are dismissed," Dumbledore stated and without a moments hesitation Harry left the room without a second glance at the disenchanted eyes of his headmaster. As soon as the door closed behind his pupil Dumbledore sat in one of the vacant chairs that he had summoned and he put his hands together before his eyes and began to concentrate. How could he help Harry overcome what was clearly a very seductive, yet very dangerous fear? 'Would he get so caught up in his fear that he would start believing in it?' Dumbledore questioned himself, 'could Harry overcome his fear?' Dumbledore needed a plan, and he had an discontented feeling in the pit of his stomach that he would not be able to sleep until he had one set for action. As Dumbledore stood and dismissed the chairs and the chest, the door on the other side of the room opened to emit the form of Dumbledore's Deputy. "Hello Minerva," Dumbledore greeted politely, but not as cheerily as he would have on a usual day. Minerva caught on to this awkward greeting and was not about to let it slide.  
"I just saw Harry, he looked disgruntled, he looked as you look right now. I take this as a sign that the lesson did not go as pleasantly as planned?" She questioned apprehensively. Dumbledore answered with a silent shake of the head. "Oh dear, care to surrender details?" Dumbledore re-summoned the two chairs and invited Minerva to sit. He then proceeded to tell Minerva what Harry had seen, what Harry interpreted it as, and his half hearted reply to Dumbledore's question.  
"We have quite the challenge before us my dear," Dumbledore stated tiredly. Minerva reached her hand and rested it on Dumbledore's folded pair.  
"It seems so, but you will not be facing it alone. Harry just needs to be surrounded by things that reminds him of the fact that he is anything but evil. Do not fret Albus, things will end right, life has a strange way of righting its own wrongs; this situation will be no different. Why don't you stay for dinner Albus, you can return to your genius in the morning," Minerva teased and was pleased when she saw Dumbledore smile softly from the humor.

"I do not believe that this would be the best of nights for such an invitation so I will, unfortunately, be turning it down. Minerva, I was wondering, if it is of no inconvenience to you, if I could borrow your tenant for further lessons, not just on Thursdays. I have a feeling that it will take much more than one day a week to help the poor boy!" Dumbledore asked with the wheels in his head turning and planning.

"Of course you may, I don't know if Harry will appreciate that much though," Minerva answered with her eyes intent on her companion's interlocked fingers. At that moment Minerva's House Elf popped in to announce that dinner was prepared. To this, the pair stood. "Thank you, I will be there in a moment," Minerva answers and, after the House Elf vanished, she returned her attention to her friend, who took her hand and kissed the top politely.  
"You have been a golden hostess as always my dear. I shall be in contact as soon as my 'genius' thinks of what to do next. Sleep well Minerva," and with that Dumbledore left the room, and the house after he had reached the fireplace. Minerva stood alone in the room for a moment of contemplation and, after reassuring herself that Harry was going to be just fine, she left the room. Her stomach was growling and she could hear the kitchen calling her name.

TO BE CONTINUED. . . .

A/N: I am SOOOOO Sorry that it took so long to write this chapter, I will try to stay on top of things. . .I just got caught up in real life (without a want to!) Always grateful, Dumbledoreschild


	21. Chapter 21: Twisted Plans?

RECAP: "It's me," he whispered, "I am afraid of myself, I'm evil." 

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As the days grew more and more tiresome, the nights seemed to stretch to outstandingly limitless time frames; as if the night was sucking the life, and the strength out of the day and transforming it into the darkness that would, every night envelope a very confused and troubled young man.

In the past, when Harry would be unwillingly thrown into a horrific nightmare by Lord Voldemort he always seemed to be tortured or inflicted with some kind of unforgettable and unforgivable pain, but lately this had all changed. Harry would no longer sweat, his complexion would never pale and his panic would never rise when he slipped into Voldemort's world. Strange enough, Voldemort purposely made Harry feel less like an outsider.

After the unbelievable yet acceptable session with Dumbledore, Harry retreated to his bedroom, collapsing onto his unwelcomingly firm bed, emotionless and drained. This was how he fell into the strange dream, the strangest to which he had ever encountered.

It started, as usual, with Harry landing on the floor of a dark, damp, cave-like structure with Voldemort cockily sitting on his throne made of velvet, like a shrewd predator staring down upon his helpless pray. Voldemort was ready to commence the usual torture when he noticed something a little off about his measly little companion, something that just did not settle with his usual noble frame of mind. Instead of him fighting against the bonds that contained him, he looked as though he were comforted by the fact that they were present. Instead of wildly searching the endless darkness of the cove he seemed to just stare, determinedly, at one spot of the frozen stone floor, as if he really didn't care that he was about to consume enough torture to make the world itself shiver at the mere thought.

This fact bemused the cocky caretaker, but after a moment of formulating and hypothesizing his confusion began to clear and a plan began to form. Inside the depths of Voldemort's mind was a little voice. This voice could hardly be known as the voice of a conscience, to which every human being experiences at least once in their lifetime, in fact it was quite the opposite. The voice of his deceased mother echoed throughout his mind, coercing it, caressing it, swarming it with plans, ideas, momentous ideas of how he could use this new transaction to the better use.

After a moment of genius, the lips, which rested on the face so pale beneath the eyes so red, curved into a smirk. . .or was it a smile?

Voldemort slowly stood, in one graceful motion, silhouetting him into a picture of determined, yet cunning madness. He walked, as if slithering towards the placid stone boy who rested at the base of his thrown and he, with one swift motion, pulled a dagger from his stark black robes and plunged it into the binds that secured the boy, shattering them at once. This, Harry did not expect, but the sight that rested before his tired eyes after the deed was done was what shocked him the most.

After Harry's hands and feet were freed from their confinements Harry looked up to see Voldemort, his arch-enemy, the man who had tortured and killed his family and friends, standing before him, arm outstretched, palm flat and out in a gesture to help Harry stand.

Harry was smarter then that, clearly this turn of events was anything but normal or natural to any standards, which meant that Voldemort had some sort of a plan. What this plan was, Harry had no idea, but like hell was he going to make it easy for this mad man to commence with whatever scheme he had cooked up. Harry did not take the hand that was offered, instead he placed his palms onto the freezing cold stone and pushed himself up into the standing position, making sure that he and Voldemort were at arms length. Voldemort, not very pleased by the young man's choice, replaced the hand to his side and made sure that his smikry smile would not fall, in spite of that burn in the pit of his stomach.

If Harry was unsure about Voldemort's intentions before, his questions were soon cleared and polished when Voldemort, in an unnervingly polite manner, hissed a request to him. "Dine with me Harry," he spoke, "you look starved. You can have turkey, honey roasted ham, pudding, pastries, pies, ice cream or any other supplement that you wish to consume." Harry incredulously looked on, not knowing if he was in a nightmare or some twisted version of Alice in Wonderland; knowing that he was about to go to the, clearly, Mad Hatter for tea and biscuits. The thought caused a chuckle to rise in Harry's throat, but before it could be emitted to the world, his joy was smothered by those slits if eyes, which burned into his flesh. To Harry's lack of response, to which caused Voldemort to only grow more irritated, the Dark Lord raised his hands and clapped them together in two continuous movements, causing the noise to be thrown mercilessly toward the stone wall, which mercilessly threw it right back.

The noise slammed into the ground at Harry's feet and, as if the ferocity had caused every atom and every molecule in the air to smash together, a table began to form. With another blink of an eye, this long, decadent dinner table was furnished with any and every food that Harry could think of, and even some that he could not even pronounce. This sight though, only caused more confusion to the young boy, and his curiosity began to grow. Harry had absolutely no intention of touching any scrap that laid before him, but he would go along with the Dark Lord; if Harry wished to know Voldemort's plan, he would have to go along with whatever was going to be thrown in his direction.

With a final snap of his long, bony fingers, two gorgeous chairs placed themselves across from one another and scooted out in a welcoming gesture; pleading with an owner to occupy its comfortable cushion. Voldemort strolled over to his seat and gracefully sat, motioning for Harry to follow suit. Harry did as was asked, but with hesitation. Voldemort sensed this demeanor and decided that he should start his little plan.

"Harry" he whispered metallically, "my boy you are different tonight, please do not make me deduce why." To his indirect question Harry turned his head defiantly, wishing not to make eye contact, knowing full well that Voldemort was an expert at occlumancy and would only be too glad to pick at Harry's mind, to play with his twisted fears as if it were some sort of a sick game. No, Harry knew that if Voldemort knew that Harry was doubting his pureness then everything would be lost; all of his friend's and family's lives would have been lost in vain. Harry may be doubting himself, but he would never, or could never doubt the solidified fact that Voldemort was the one who had gotten him into this mess in the first place, and that Harry could not wait to see him pay for his crimes.

"I must say Harry, your lack of response is quite rude and insulting. . .I would hope that at least that pathetic school would have taught you some good manners." To this statement, Harry closed his eyes and shoke his head, ever so slightly, back and forth while allowing the chuckle that once resided in his throat to come out. What surprised Voldemort the most was not the fact that this dim-witted boy was chuckling at him, but it was the context of the sound. It was not a sound with a joyous essence, but with one smothered in bitter thought and cold remembrance.

"Is something funny to you?" Voldemort asked, his annoyance ever-growing.

"Yes actually," Harry stated bluntly as he raised his eyes toward Voldemort's, "there is!"

"And what, may I infer, is it," Voldemort stated a little more harshly then he had intended.

"Oh nothing, just the fact that you keep referring to this 'stupid school' as if you were not once a part of it and as if it is not one of the things to wish you covet. You talk about manners? HA, the Black Plague had more manners then you could ever scrape up. You talk about insults as if they are nothing more then bad language and harsh words. . .well, that is what a normal human being would establish as an insult. But you, oh no, your insults include torture, ripping families to shreds and making the mere thought of waking in the morning too unbearable. Do you want to know what is different about me? Huh, do you really 'care?' You think that I don't know that you are up to something, that you don't have some kind of demented plan formed in your distorted brain? My eyes are open, that's what's different, I know what the hell is going on for once in this shitty world and do you know what, I am sick and tired of it."

Harry stood from the table roughly, causing the chair to slide back and to fall awkwardly onto its side. Voldemort too stood in response, his anger was that of Harry's and they were both about to break. As Harry spoke he thought of what would really make Voldemort crack, what would wipe that fake plastered smile off of his gruesome face. Suddenly, he remember one of their earlier encounters and he discovered the key that would throw open Pandora's box.

"You know, if your mother wasn't so messed up then maybe you would have turned out normal. That was your big plan wasn't it, to," Harry raised his fingers in a mock quoting fashion, "bring your mother back from the dead, come on, like THAT hasn't been done a thousand times in the movies. You really are pathetic aren't you?" Voldemort was not shaking in anger or clutching his fists in rage, on the opposite, he was barely breathing. Voldemort knew that Harry was trying to get a rise out of him and he could not spoil his plan. . .but ohhhhh, how he wanted to make Harry swallow his own tongue when he spoke of his mother. How dare he utter her existance with such profanity. He would pay dearly for this, but later, because now he could not let his plan fail.

Harry could sense this conflict, so he continued on with his jousting because, what Voldemort did not know, was that Harry too had a plan, a plan that was so very close to being fulfilled.

Harry leisurely walked around the table near Voldemort and continued to speak, as if he were Dumbledore, in a light and conversational tone. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like if she were still alive? Have you ever considered what your life could have been if your deluded drunk of a father didn't steal her away from you? Have you ever beaten yourself up, convinced that it was ALL your fault, huh? Have you screamed out in the middle of the night, praying for the darkness that has engulfed your mind to disappear, or for it to just swallow you completely so that you would no longer have to feel the pain and the guilt? Well Tom. . . welcome to my world."

That was it, that was all it took, Harry insulting his mother was like a stab in the chest, him referring to him by his filthy muggle name was a twist of the knife and the fact that he was comparing their lives was the final straw. Voldemort pulled out his wand and, for the first true time, filled with true hatred and disgust, he spoke the killing curse.

An extraordinary flash of green light illuminated the cave and Harry's nightmare came to an abrupt end.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

Hey, this one's a little shorter then my usual chapters, but hopefully you all liked it just the same. If you have any questions then hopefully I will be able to clear them up in the next chapter:O)

All My Love,

Dumbledoreschild


	22. Chapter 22: Shoulder Dwellers

Chapter 22: Shoulder Dwellers 

RECAP: An extraordinary flash of green light illuminated the cave and Harry's nightmare came to an abrupt end.  
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Without a startled scream, without a tortured gasp for the cool cleansing air around him, Harry woke from his un-slumber-like nightmare calmly. With a flicker of his stark black eyelashes, Harry James Potter regained his contact with reality. His newly opened eyes, now a brighter shade of green then they had earlier been, stared at his placidly pale ceiling for a brief moment before a smile, ever so slowly, began creeping into existence atop his features.

Harry used his arm strength to push himself into a position in which he was lying down but also were his torso was being propped up by his elbows. He shoke his head slightly from side to side and, once again, smiled at the memory of the nightmare (how ironic) and its complicated simplicity before he climbed out of bed.

As his feet touched the surface of the cool wooden floorboards, he wondered where he could possibly find his instructor on this particularly fine morning. His soundless inquiry was soon answered in the form of a swift output of air erupting in the form of a cough, which could be tracked to the first library. 'Must have been up late reading or researching' Harry mused and his chilled feet changed their direction and started walking towards the first library.

Harry was correct on his assumption for, as he walked to the frame of the door, he witnessed his professor's slightly slumped, but still quite unyielding, form, with her eyes glued to a text featuring tales, facts and theories about fears and how to control them. Upon acknowledging the intent of the text, Harry could not help but visualize those tar black eyes of his own evil form and his heart could not overpower the ominous feeling of dread and weakness. Something terrible was soon to happen, but what was it and why was Harry so afraid of something that could not possibly be true? Or was it true? Ah, this was the proper question. At the end of this dark, precarious tunnel, will Voldemort be the ultimate enemy to conquer or will it be himself? As a second cough erupted into the air, Harry was pulled out of his reverie and he decided to focus on his questions at a later time. He had news, new which he hoped would much simplify his day to day, or, rather, night to night troubles. He turned his attention to his studious professor and tried to break her concentration.

"Now, I thought that you didn't believe in all of that 'hogs wallop' about divination. Tisk, tisk, your forgetting your principals" Harry stated teasingly. In response, Minerva slightly grunted at him and continued her examination of a text that she, more then likely, did consider to be hogs wallop, but she continued to read it anyways; just in case there was some validity amidst the stupidity.

"I kinda-sorta got some good news professor" Harry tried again, hoping to draw his professor's attention away from the black and white parchment. To this statement, Harry was met by a forceful finger, which flew into the air instructing Harry to wait one moment. Harry chuckled and decided that he would try one last technique. He was feeling particularly mischievous this morning and had decided to play upon that feeling.

Harry walked up behind Minerva and, taking on the tone of a sales-clerk making an announcement over a muggle PA system, declared, "Falling-Wheels shoe store is shutting down for the season and everything is 99 off!" This time Minerva's attention was diverted from her reading and she turned around swiftly to see the twinkling eyes of her apprentice dancing with delight at his awaited response. "Girls and their shoes," Harry stated before straightening up tall and walking to the other side of the average size oak desk, which was littered with books upon book about myths, stories, legends and logical experiments tested by past magical masters.

Minerva rolled her eyes at Harry, "I do not have a shoe fetish thank you very much and I would appreciate your silence when it is instructed." With this brutal dose of medicine, Minerva regained her focus on the book in front of her.

'Ouch,' Harry thought, 'clearly she has been up all night studying, it probably won't be a good idea to push her buttons today.'

'Good idea' stated a little angel Harry, dressed in robes of pearly white with a slightly glowing halo floating atop his head, that had subconsciously popped into existence on Harry's right shoulder. 'Just be nice and things will go your way.'

'Psh, yeah right, you gotta be forceful to get what you want.' This time the sound came from a little devil Harry on Harry's left shoulder, dressed in tight robes of flame red with pointy horns atop his head. He was also brandishing a threatening trident, which he held with a cocky air of pride and power. 'The only way that this hag will **ever** let things go your way is if you did a little dance, made a little love and got down tonight!' With this statement the little devil started dancing as if the song were actually playing; from the disco to the wave to the thrust, he did it all.

'You're an idiot you** do** know that right?' asked the angel thickly, who was staring incredulously at the devil who was dancing like he had never danced before. 'We are _supposed_ to be giving Harry advice on how to be good, not how to do the worm. Grar, Devils are so stubborn these days!'

'Stubborn? Well, it's better then being a pixie-fairy-thing who wears a dress and dances on fluffy white clouds all day. You got it easy man. Why don't you just fly away and save a soul with your sparkly pixie dust there?!'

'Oh no you didn't' the angel snapped and the pair began making their way towards each other with the prospect of a duel planted firmly in their thoughts.

"Woo there killers! Let me guess, you are the angel and devil things that people see when they are about to make a decision to be naughty or nice right?" Harry stated, hoping to calm his new, strange companions.

'Really? What gave us away, the flaming TRIDENT or the freaking HALO?' The devil stated, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

'Don't be such a pessimist, Harry needs our help and we are supposed to offer him strength and guidance,' the angel stated as he puffed out his chest in superiority.  
'Wow did you just sound like a complete and total A-'

"Alrighty then," Harry interjected loudly before some choice words could be spoken, "so what do you guys want exactly? I didn't think that you things came out on trivial issues, aren't you guys supposed to only pop up when huge life things are supposed to happen?"

'Well yes!' The angel stated bluntly and stared at Harry with wide eyes. Harry stared back, hoping there would be more of an explanation but was only met with that 'are you stupid or something' look that people wear when they believe that you should know something that you do not.  
'Wow . . . that was deep!' the devil proded melodramatically.  
'Oh shut up, who asked you Son of Satin?' the angel fought back.  
'No one Manger-Moron!'

"HEY, please, for the love of my sanity, tell me why I am having a hallucinating about an angel and devil on my shoulders?"

'Oh, right . . . woopsies!' the angel proclaimed.  
'Woopsies? Nice strong vocabulary there, very _riveting_ . . . Oh yeah, we have the big red Webster down under!' The devil arrogantly stated as a Webster dictionary appeared in his hands along with a pair of reading glasses, which he placed upon the arch of his nose. He opened the book and began to read. The angel rolled his eyes at his partner's idiocy and began his clarification.  
'Anyways, you are facing a _terminal_ point in you life right now-'

'Oooh, _terminal_ is a good word!' interjected the devil, which was ignored as the angel continued explaining.  
'-you have to decide whether you should tell Minerva about you ability to escape Voldemort's dreams.'

"Well, why wouldn't I? If I tell her then she and Dumbledore will probably take it as a sign and concoct some way of stopping the dreams all together."

'EXACTLY!' The devil proclaimed as he dramatically slammed the dictionary closed, causing it, along with his glasses, to disappear in a wisp of lucent smoke. 'Dude, if you are not in those dreams anymore then you have no contact with this Voldie creep right?'

"Right," Harry answered perplexedly.  
'Well, haven't you ever heard of the saying keep your friends close but your enemies closer? This directly applies to your situation.'

'Wow, I never EVER thought that I would say this but, my partner is right. . .don't get too cocky you arrogant flame retardant, it was only one compliment! If you are permanently expelled from the dreams then how can you keep an eye on your enemy? You have to pursue the dreams in hopes of finding out Voldemort's plans. You** know** he has a plan, he **always **does!'

"Yeah, you've got a point there, but I promised Minerva that no secrets would be kept. She is working so hard for me, just look at her. She is so worried, by telling her this, that stress would be lifted slightly."

'This is true, but which would you rather have: A stress free Minerva for the brief present or a dead Minerva in the future?'

This harsh truth seemed to hit home to Harry. The angel was right; by keeping the truth from her he was actually saving her in the long run. Although this moved was logically supported, Harry's gut was begging and pleading with him to tell Minerva the truth. Something was off and he knew it. Something just was not right about this whole situation, but what else could he do? Harry was granted entrance to Voldemort's mind for a reason; maybe that reason was to learn information that would eventually save his friend's lives.

Harry had figured out that last night's dream was different from the others because, usually, Harry was the one that had to eject _himself _from Voldemort's mind, which was a difficult task because Voldemort had wished for Harry to remain in his mind: he could not fight Voldemort's brainwaves. But last night, Harry turned the tables by making sure that it was _Voldemort_ who expelled Harry by choice. By using the Avada Kedavra curse Voldemort blasted a whole, a scratch, a tare in the sequence of his own brainwaves, thus allowing Harry the luxury of entering or ejecting _himself_ whenever he wishes. This gave Harry the upper hand in the situation because now he could gather whatever information he needed without having to go through the nightly torture.

Going against his better judgment Harry made his final decision. "Fine, you guys win. I won't tell her, her life far more important then her current stress level."

'So you will go back to Voldemort tonight?' the Angel asked.  
"Yes" Harry answered; worry still stewing in his gut.  
'You will continue these meetings with him until the prospected goal has been met? 'the Devil continued.  
" It sounds like I don't have much of a choice. Now can you guys go away now, I'm getting a headache."

'Of course' the angel said and both it and the devil made a low bow before they dissolved bit by bit. First their feet and ankles disappeared, followed by their legs, waist, and torso and as their heads dissolved Harry could see the essence of their eyes lingering for a moment. As this last portion faded away, Harry could not help but think that they shared a striking resemblance to snake eyes.

Harry pulled himself out of this daydream and looked upon the face of his professor, which was gouged deeply with lines and scars of stress, worry and fear that Harry could easily help to dissipate. With much self-resistance, but with much more self-push harry turned away from the scene and walked towards the kitchen, hoping that a full stomach would distract his overflowing mind.

Minerva continued to work fruitlessly, not noticing how Harry drifted into a strange limbo and not knowing the two tyrants who had occupied his thoughts. She was also oblivious, as was Harry, to the existence of a cold, dark cave, where, resting inside, was a madman whose plans where coming along nicely and whose snakelike eyes shared a striking resemblance to Harry's new shoulder dwellers.


	23. Chapter 23: What he's really after

Chapter 23

Chapter 23?

RECAP: Minerva continued to work fruitlessly, not noticing how Harry drifted into a strange limbo and not knowing the two tyrants who had occupied his thoughts. She was also oblivious, as was Harry, to the existence of a cold, dark cave, where, resting inside, was a madman whose plans where coming along nicely and whose snakelike eyes shared a striking resemblance to Harry's new shoulder dwellers.

--

The day was cold; too cold.

It was nearing the end of august and it seemed as if the autumn chill was moving in a bit early. The grey clouds suffocated the warm, caressing rays of the sun, leaving the earth cool and trembling slightly from the early arrival of the crisp, blustery wind. The green leaves, which wrapped themselves around the taut branches of the trees, seemed less jaunty, less green, and less alive. They hung pathetically on their branches as if they had no will, no desire to stand.

The atmosphere in the world outside the ancient oak door of the McGonagall Manor could find similarities with those lurking on the opposite side. It was as if the damp and the cold were seeping through the doors, the cracks and the crevasses of the home; engulfing the inhabitants resting within.

The air was thick with an irritable essence. Impatience loomed as if a vulture waiting to claim it's weak and dying prey.

Harry had fallen into a silent seclusion from the world ever since the visit from his shoulder dwellers.

Everything was the same. Day after day, night after night he was tormented by the same repetitive nuisances. By day he was forced to trap his feeling inside the icebox of his mind, block off his passions, crumble his emotions and sever his ties to himself for the sake of 'controlling his emotions.' He was really starting to hate this particular concept.

Then, by night, he was repelled and then expelled to and from the psychotically ominous and mysterious world of the darkest wizard that had ever graced the earth. This was also becoming quite frustrating; but not because Harry was tired of being ripped from reality and thrown into a fanatically dark illusion of a world, or because he had been failing to divulge the plans kept within the deep recesses of his enemy's mind, but because he was enjoying it. Well, not enjoying it per say, but it was almost as if he was savoring it.

The chaos and confusion resting within Harry's reality was beginning to become more then he could handle. The dark rings circling his once static green eyes were proof of this daunting fact.

Reality was sucking him dry, and it was almost as if his visits with Voldemort regenerated him enough to make it through the next day of trials and obstacles.

There was no more yelling, fighting, torture, mocking or pain; there was only conversation. This unnerved Harry in the beginning, but, after a while, he allowed

himself a little lee-way.

They would discuss several aspects of both of their lives. Voldemort, to Harry's surprise, spoke of his childhood fondly. He would illustrate aspects of his life that Harry, himself, could relate to, such as his thrive for adventure, thirst for a chance to prove himself and, of course, his lack of sufficient parental guidance.

Harry, in turn, told tales of his wicked cousin and other such superficial tales; never dipping deeper into the void of his memories, which were causing his current distress. Harry was verging on comfort with these conversations and he was beginning to relate the life that Voldemort once led.

"Now, dear boy, we have conversed for nights now about your life, about my life, our passions, desires, fears and memories. However, there is something lacking from our . . . conversations." Voldemort stated this point in a loquacious manner; hoping that his charge would not heed his push toward the subject to which he found most intriguing.

Harry, however, noticed how Voldemort was suddenly choosing his words very carefully. However, instead of impeding his enemy's thoughts, he decided to listen.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Harry prompted in a curious, yet defensive, tone.

"Well, my dear boy, we have yet to speak about your present life. I mean, you come to me every night far too stressed. I can almost read your troubles from those prodigious rings lagging underneath your eyes. Tell me, what is distressing you so?" Voldemort asked very carefully, for he knew how this despicable excuse for a human being had quite the temper. If he wished to divulge the progression of Harry's undeserved powers, then he would be able to calculate the amount of time he would need to prepare for the climax of his genius.

Harry had seen this question coming for a while now.

He could never forget the dream that would forever be embedded into his memory of the night Voldemort first attempted to kill him while in this horrifying abode. He remembered how Voldemort spoke of his mother and bringing her back from the dead, but he could only do that if he possessed enough power. He reminisced on the fact that Voldemort had failed to steal what he so desperately hunted, and he also remembered how Voldemort spoke of the power to heal.

Now, Harry didn't know if his adversary had been very misinformed, for Harry had not yet acquired the power to heal. Anyway, Harry never believed that he could ever be able to fix anything, seeing that he was always the one who was breaking them. He did not have enough faith, or love, to heal.

Harry simply sat there in silence, pondering on the memories that were flooding back into his conscience, not caring to notice the eager and, slightly annoyed, features of the mad man sitting right across from him.

"Well, Harry, it is very rude to ignore your company, especially when they have asked you a question." Harry chuckled at this statement and raised his eyes to reply.

"Hmm, isn't it just as rude to kidnap someone from their much needed sleep, to torture them into oblivion and to attempt to steal their 'powers?' Isn't it just as rude to then switch your tactics and pretend to give a damn about a person who you loath just as much as he loathes you?"

Harry began to grow passionate. "You know, I am really getting sick of this. I am getting sick of you, Dumbledore and anyone else who believes that they are 'helping' me when they really don't give a _damn_ about anyone but themselves and their own stupid agendas. You must really think I'm stupid don't you? You think that if you talk nice to me I will forget about how you have completely destroyed my life by killing the people that I love? Well, let me tell you something Tom . . . I'm done."

The pleasant visage that had once rested on Voldemort's features was wiped away, as if a memory, when his dirty muggle name escaped Harry's lips. His fingers curled around the wooden arm rests of his chair to the extent that, through his abnormally pale flesh, white knuckles could be seen protruding to the surface.

This did not go unnoticed by Harry, who, sitting in a similar seat across from Voldemort, stood and began to pace around Voldemort with a cocky air of arrogance. He had no clue where this new found courage had arisen, but it had been made clear that Voldemort could not cause him much physical damage while in this particular dream state, and if he attempted to then Harry could simply repel himself back into reality. He was just extremely agitated tonight and felt a need to ease his tensions through sarcasm.

"What? Can the 'greatest wizard of the age' not even bare to hear his real name? Tom."

Voldemort's nasal slits flared open and closed repetitively in hopes of containing his growing rage.

"Tom." Harry continued to circle Voldemort, who was growing more agitated by the second.

"Tom." Voldemort's eyes clenched as he was about to reach his breaking point.

"TOM." Harry yelled from behind his chair, almost half expecting the reaction that he was soon to receive.

Voldemort stood swiftly, grabbed the chair that he had been sitting in and threw it toward the opposite wall; shattering it into pieces, which disappeared as soon as they hit the floor. Nothing was heard throughout the cave but the ragged breath of rage as Voldemort attempted to stabilize himself.

"I see. You hold up the act as long as I play along, is that right? You are my friend until you don't need me anymore, is that the case?" Harry questioned, staring at the dorsal section of his enemy.

"You think that by killing, you can bring someone back to life, huh? Well, I've got news for you. You will _never_ see your mother again, and I pray to Merlin that I am the one who will make that idea a reality."

Voldemort could no longer contain the overflowing rage that was pouring into his tainted soul.

As a response, he pushed Harry until his back was flush against the fortification of the cave even before Harry's final word was given the chance to rebound off of the cavern walls.

Harry struggled against Voldemort's ghostly hands, which were holding him tight against the cavern wall with all of his might, but his enemy was far too strong. After a moment, Harry ceased his struggles and listened intently to the words that Voldemort began to whisper.

"You are very stupid Harry Potter. You should know as well as I that the pain of losing someone that you love is stronger then anything in existence. You know that watching someone that you love slip away at the hands of another is unbearable. You KNOW that the revenge that you seek far outweighs any other trivial task and goals that you may have set for yourself. YOU KNOW the want and the urge to do ANYTHING in your power to make things right again. You KNOW the feeling that you would rather bleed to death before admitting defeat." At this point, Voldemort released Harry and took a step back; Harry did not move, rather he continued to stare into Voldemort's face as he allowed his words to sink into his veins.

You know this, and yet you continue your pathetic life day to day without even attempting to do anything about it. If I had not found you in your first year, you would have never hunted me out of your own free will. You have been pushed into this arena to face me because it is what 'you are supposed to do' and because you were _told_ to do it. This is the difference between you and me Harry Potter. I will pursue my destiny without a need for anyone to tell me I need to do so. I have stepped into the arena because it is the only way to get what I need. I have coveted the moment to which I will see my mother again for a very, very long time. Now, do you think I will let anyone, even yourself, stand in my way?"

Voldemort and Harry gazed at each other for what seemed like an eternity, until a loud racket was heard overhead.

"It seems that someone is attempting to wake you Harry. Goodbye." Voldemort spoke, as Harry began to dissolve from his sight, but never from his mind.

--

"Harry, Harry wake up," Minerva beckoned as she sat at the edge of Harry's bed, gently shaking him in hopes that the movement would awake him.

Despite Minerva's persistent urge to wake him up, Harry simply remained in what seemed to be a state of sleep; but he was very much awake. He needed time to absorb what Voldemort had diverged to him, but he could not do that if he were being bombarded by the trials of the new day. So, he simply ignored his Professor's calls and nudges in hopes that she would deem him exhausted and leave him alone.

If only life were so kind to him.

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you, he wants to begin as soon as possible. He says that he may have a theory on how to help you. Oh Harry, I know you can hear me!"

With his eyes still closed, Harry deeply filled his lungs with the sweet refreshing air before quietly uttering the response, "Yes ma'am, tell him I'll be right there."

Minerva curtly nodded her head before making her way toward the door leading to the hallway. However, before she exited the room she looked back over her shoulder at her charge. If Harry's eyes had been open he would have seen the waves of concern crashing through his Professor and cresting through her eyes.

Minerva had no idea what Dumbledore could possibly have planned but, judging on his lack of affability when he arrived, figured that this new 'theory' was going to bring many new trials into her charge's life. This was the last thing that she wanted.

Ever since the night that Harry had discovered the truth about Minerva's son, they had grown closer; much closer. Minerva cared for Harry deeply and wished for nothing more then his happiness and protection.

With that final glance Minerva left the room and walked toward the second library to discuss the new plan of action with the headmaster.

Harry slowly regained his vision begrudgingly and clambered out of his bed to prepare himself for the challenges that would await him in the second library.

'What more could they possibly throw at me?' Harry thought after he had dressed himself in a pair of ripped, faded jeans and a simple t-shirt and he began his movement toward the library.

When Harry entered the room he was greeted with a most solemn abode. Neither Dumbledore nor Minerva smiled at him in their regularly welcoming manner. Neither bid him a good morning, nor did they even raise their eyes to meet his. They only action that transpired was Dumbledore ordering Harry to stand in front of the ancient chest to which he had become so accustom to seeing.

"Professor, are we going to try this again? We know my fear and we know we can't fight it off. Why are we doing this again?" Harry questioned, hoping to uncover what his Professor had in store.

Dumbledore slightly sighed before answering his pupil's question. "Yes, we are going to do this again only, instead of you attempting to push your dark self away, you will attempt to join with him."

"WHAT?" Harry bellowed, swiftly turning around to face Dumbledore. "Have you completely lost your mind? No offence sir, but, doesn't this seem a little bit like . . .I don't know . . . suicide or something?"

"Please Harry, do as I say. If everything happens as I believe things will happen then we will find ourselves a step closed to diminishing this rather prodigious obstacle."

"Um, but what if this theory fails? What happens then? The Order may be two members short if this theory of yours doesn't work out. You've seen what I can do when I get angry. What do you think I'll do when I'm evil?" To this question Harry only received silence. "I'm not doing it. I won't put you two in danger."

Harry began to walk toward the door, determined that he was doing the right thing when he was stopped by Dumbledore's voice; It was clam, yet strong and it almost seemed to be tinted with a cold mist.

"You will not leave this room until we have attempted this Harry. You are in far worse danger then I could have ever anticipated and that danger will begin to spread to your friends and the loved ones who surround you. I know that this may be difficult for you to comprehend, and I sincerely apologize for putting you in this situation but this is something that must be done. Please, return to your place in front of the chest so that we may resume instruction."

After Harry was allowed a moment to absorb Dumbledore's statement, he return to his place and awaited any further orders.

"Good," Dumbledore remarked. "Now, when your counterpart appears I wish for you to stand as still as you possibly can. You will look deep into its eyes and think of nothing but the closest and dearest memories that your mind's eye can conjure. Now, this is very important Harry, you must think of those whom you love and you must hold on to them. Your counterpart will take those to whom you will think of and he will place them in life or death situations. You may watch several of your friends die during this exercise but never let go of the prospect that you have a chance to save them."

Harry began to slightly shake at the mere prospect of watching more of his loved ones die; he didn't know if he could handle it.

As if Dumbledore had read Harry's thoughts, he stated "none of this is real Harry. Your enemy will be conjuring false images to break down your personal barriers so that he will be able to take over your body for itself. Both Minerva and I will be here to observe and we will pull you out if the situation grows out of hand. Do you understand what you are to do Harry?"

All Harry could do was nod is head as a reply, for he had little trust in his voice, which he new would be quivering as much as his mind and body was.

"I will give you a moment to gather your thoughts and to prepare yourself. Whenever you are ready you may open the chest and begin." Dumbledore stated these final instructions and he joined Minerva in the back of the room for observation.

Harry stood in the middle of the room and thought as hard as he possibly could of memories that he could use to battle his foe. He saw Sirius smiling at him as they bid farewell before he boarded the Hogwarts Express. He pictured him, Ron and Hermione laughing with each other over a perfectly wretched joke which made absolutely no sense, but seemed to work its humor-like magic anyways. Also, as a final memory, he pictured holding Minerva in his arms after hearing the story of her beloved son. He remembered how close he felt to her.

Harry opened his eyes and, with one final breath, threw open the top of the ancient chest and took a step back in preparation of the horrors that were soon to come.

To Be Continued. . .

A/N: I know, I know it has been forever since my last implement and I am SOOOOOO sorry. I will try to be more on top of things. I hope you enjoyed this last chapter and I have plenty of new plots ahead so PLEASE don't give up on me!


	24. Chapter 24: All there is to fear is fear

Chapter 24:

Chapter 24: "The only thing to fear is fear itself"

RECAP: Harry opened his eyes and, with one final breath, threw open the top of the ancient chest and took a step back in preparation of the horrors that were soon to come.

--

As before, a dark cloud shot into the air furiously and began to twist, turn and manipulate itself into the terrifying form of a second, dark Harry. Those pitch black eyes and that smirk of pure evil directed itself toward the original Harry, who stood as if his body had been frosted over by an early winter's storm.

It laughed a low laugh and began to walk, ever so slowly, toward its frozen brother.

Harry knew that his counterpart could smell his fear, even he himself could; he could not help it. The simple thought of the two sides joining together in coalition, like the Professor had ordered, was the greatest fear that Harry had ever possessed.

Again, as before, the figure stretched out his arm and held his hand flat for Harry to take as he continued his slow pace toward him.

This simple plea caused Harry to revisit the memories of love and happiness that he had chosen before this event began. He closed his eyes in an attempt focus in order to solidify them into his mind. Sirius, Ron, Hermione, Minerva; they all sped through his psyche and filled him with that warm feeling that he had always cherished.

As soon as Harry was certain that this feeling was sticking to his mentality he reopened his eyes and prepared to fight. However, seeing that he was concentrating on his own stance, he forgot about how his counterpart was, similarly, acting on his own personal agenda.

Harry reopened his eyes and met his dark half standing not but a few feet away from him; his arm still outstretched in that silent request. The warmth resting within Harry's heart began to evaporate and he had to strain to hold his composure.

'Remember, think of the good times,' Harry thought to himself desperately. This task, to say the least, was not the simplest thing to do. Harry was beginning to lose his head, but he still held onto those memories.

Before Harry decided to commence in his task he decided to glance back at his Professors one final time. His vision first landed on his Headmaster, whose shrewd eyes seemed to be analyzing every breath and every movement that they could catch. Harry's vision then shifted to Minerva. Harry knew that she had been wearing her brave face because of her body language. However, she was being betrayed by her eyes. Her body was sharp and tall, her head was direct, her hands were still, but her eyes were shaking uncontrollably.

At that moment, the air, which had been thick with fear, was now being filled with a prodigious sense of empathy. Harry recognized those eyes, for they were the eyes which would stare back at him whenever he was unfortunate enough to glance into a mirror. His eyes, like Minerva's, always held a continual conflagration of love, pain, remembrance, guilt, loathing and confusion. Never would Harry wish those eyes upon any living soul, which was why it pained him so to see them clenching to his guardian.

Harry's dark counterpart felt the shift in emotion and, in an attempt to correct it, stated, in a voice that bore an amazing resemblance to his brother's, "you love her don't you?"

The syllables drifted through the room and almost echoed off of the walls. All of the thoughts that were running through Harry's mind were violently halted and, again, he was frozen in fear.

Reluctantly, Harry allowed his gaze to slip form Minerva as he rotated his body and, again, faced his evil form. It smiled at Harry wickedly. It was as if he were mocking Harry and his weakness.

It dropped its head slightly and stared at its own hand for a moment before returning its gaze to where it once was. Harry understood the hint that it was attempting to send out, but he just could not bring himself to take its hand.

'I have to do this,' Harry thought to himself, 'if I don't then I might never understand why I feel this terrible all of the time. I might be able to save everyone if I do it.'

Harry closed his eyes as tightly as he possibly could and allowed the memories to, once again, fill his body and soul. Slowly he reopened them and began to raise his own appendage to meet the one that had been offered to him.

A look of fear and disgust met one of serene mocking as their hands met for the first time.

As soon as flesh touched flesh, all of the electricity in and around the pair surged through Harry's core. The lights in the room flickered wildly and the foundation of the house began to quiver and shake.

The dark figure's smile grew wide as it began to slowly dissipate, but it was not leaving; it was joining. The figure began to melt and pour into Harry's body, causing his to fall onto his knees, screaming in pain. His head hit the floor and he allowed his hands to violently hit and smash the cold ground below him.

As the last of the creature enveloped itself into Harry's veins, he threw his head up toward the ceiling and let out another monstrous scream, which caused even the walls around him to peel and crack. His hands flew up to his face to cover his eyes, which were burning and smoldering as the creature pushed itself deeper into Harry's essence.

Again, Harry's head dropped to the floor aggressively with his hands never leaving his eyes.

Harry's rough breathing was the only sound that filled the room. His body, which had been shaking from head to foot, slowly began to calm and, after a moment, he began to stand. One muscle at a time Harry lifted one foot, two foot; his knees slowly slipped into their locked position and his spine, vertebrae by vertebrae, slowly slipped back into their rightful positions. Finally, his neck propped up his head and his arms unhurriedly slipped down until they hung lifelessly at his side; his eyes remained shut.

Minerva could no longer bear the scene before her eyes. She had sat back and watched this maddening exploitation of her young charge for far too long and she decided to end it. However, as she began to lift her wand to expel the creature, Dumbledore stopped her hand short and whispered, "not yet, we still have to ask it what it wants."

With a curt nod, Minerva lowered her wand and took a deep breath. "Fine," she stated rather harshly before moving away from her corner and in front of Harry, who was currently facing the door.

"Harry, can you hear me?" Minerva asked, praying that her chaotic emotions would not be heard in her voice. She received no response. "Harry, open your eyes," she softly demanded. Again, there was no response. "Harry?" Minerva urged again, her worry could no longer be restrained. "Albus, what is going on, can he hear me?"

"I do not know my dear," Albus stated, "at the moment I believe that the imitating creature is attempting to break down the defenses that Harry had conjured to protect himself. However, if this were the case, his body would be showing similar acts of aggression to prove attempted expulsion. It seems that he is in some sort of limbo-like state. Perhaps there needs to be some force that will, for lack of a better statement, mix things up a bit."

"This is ridiculous Albus, do you hear yourself. He's just a boy, whatever this thing is it is extremely dangerous and, clearly, not a force to be reckoned with." Albus remained silent to this statement and Minerva grew angry.

"Fine Albus," she spoke, "if you won't save him, then I will." Minerva determinedly walked forward until she was directly in front of her charge. Slowly she reached her hands out and placed one on each of his shoulders.

To this simple touch, Harry's body grew very agitated. Hid eyes clenched even tighter then before, his hands compressed until the white of his knuckles were clearly visible and his whole person began to shake.

"Harry, what's happening? Albus?" Minerva rounded on her advisor. Again, he remained silent. With her agitation and anger flaring, Minerva returned her attention to Harry and resumed in her attempts to pull him out of whatever limbo he was stationed.

While Minerva persistently attempted to wake her charge, Harry was undergoing a horrific battle inside of his mind. As Dumbledore had predicted, as soon as the creature was safely enclosed within Harry, it began to attack him from his place of greatest strength and weakness; his heart.

The creature figured that if it wished to overthrow Harry from his own body, it would first have to destroy the last thread tying him to hope and love. It was not difficult for the creature to discover the memories that Harry had stored away to enable him to continue fighting the creature. Immediately, the creature began its destructive work.

It forced Harry to picture the most superficial memory of a man to whom Harry loved most dearly.

It forced Harry to first witness this man grab him and hold him tightly while inside the room resting within the train station leading to the Hogwarts Express. It allowed Harry to witness the tenderness, which rested within both his and the man's eyes, and then he pulled it all away. It twisted Harry's memory to show, instead of Sirius again transforming into a dog and disappearing into safety, him pulling away with an empty look in his eyes. Sirius then proceeded to walk to the back of the little room toward two ancient pillars, which held between them a strange veil of some sort.

Harry's breath caught in his throat and his air supply seemed to have run short. He could not breathe, he could not move, he could not even think. Sirius walked, as if he had completely forgotten that Harry was even alive. He walked, as if in a trance, toward his death.

Harry knew what was happening but, for some reason, his feet had gone numb and he could not seem to move them at all. Harry attempted to scream but his voice, in similarity to his feet, had left him. He simply had to watch as Sirius, willingly, vanished behind the veil; never to be seen again.

Suddenly, Harry regained strength in his feet and he ran as fast as he could toward the veil. He did not hesitate ripping the veil to the side and running through it; he had to save Sirius. However, what rested on the other side of this veil was not a wasteland, a spiritual realm or a cemetery; it was his dorm room.

The flickering fire in the fireplace illuminated the glorious memory of Ron and Hermione sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace laughing as if they had not a care in the world. A chair was positioned at an angle to the side of the pair, one that Harry knew he was supposed to rest. So, as if he were reliving the memory, Harry sat in the chair and simply stared at the two best friends that he had ever had.

He looked at Hermione, with her pulled back in that sloppy bun she would always wear whenever she was finished studying, and remembered how she was the one who had saved him from the trials in his first year, the Basilisk in the second, the werewolf in his third year and he remembered how she had always supported him after Sirius had passed away.

He then looked over to Ron, with his hair red enough to compete with the blazing fire in front of him, and thought of how he just made him laugh. Sure, he was not the most intelligent guy in the world and he liked to cheat on all of his homework, but he was loyal and supportive. He was the spice to Harry's life; well, besides all of the murdering fiends that liked to shake up his life.

Harry didn't want to leave this memory, but his dark counterpart had other plans. In a moment, four death-eaters materialized out of nowhere, raised their wands at his friends and, in a simple flash of green, murdered them right before his very eyes.

It had all happened so quickly that Harry had no time to register what he had just witnessed. All he saw was how Ron and Hermione's eyes went from peaceful and happy to frightened and then to empty in a split second. The rage, which was seething inside of Harry, caused him to jump up and charge at the deatheaters who had murdered his friends. However, the death-eaters had disappeared.

Instead of standing in his dorm room with his enemies, he was standing in a small room, with Minerva. She was sitting on the floor with tears running freely down her cheek, which was flushed from her rage and her sadness.

Immediately, Harry dropped to his knees and gathered her up into his arms.

"I won't let you go. I won't let it get you like it got them, I promise," Harry whispered and began to frantically search the room with his eyes for any sign that could possibly lead to her demise. In such a short window of time, Harry had lost his godfather and his two best friends; like hell was he going to let go of the one woman who even came close to being a mother to him.

Suddenly, with Minerva still weeping in his arms, Harry saw it. He saw what was going to try to take her away from him.

In the very corner of the room was a small dot a black as coal that had not been there when Harry had first arrived. It seemed that the longer Harry stared at it the larger it became. In fact, it seemed to be growing larger and larger by the second. It began to crawl down and around the walls toward the pair sitting on the floor as if it were on a mission; a mission to kill.

Harry's breath, again, began to constrict, but he chose to ignore it. He quickly pulled Minerva up to her feet, grabbed her hand and began to run.

He pushed through the first door, ran straight through the nursery and into the West Wing hallway. Harry looked back to see if the shadow had followed them, but he saw nothing. He then turned his eyes to look at Minerva who, if Harry knew her correctly, would be pretty confused right about now.

Harry unlocked his eyes from the door and turned to look at Minerva only to find that she was no longer by his side. Panic surged through Harry and he frantically looked around to find where she had gone. Finally, he heard a slight whimper and found her standing at the end of the hallway with her tears still streaming down her face.

"Please don't let it get me Harry," She whimpered, "it took my son; please don't let it take me too." She dropped her head into her hands and began to cry again; she was paying no attention to the small dot, as black as coal, which was growing on the wall just behind her.

"Professor run," Harry yelled, but in dismay, for it seemed as if Minerva was too lost in her own sadness to comprehend anything that Harry was saying.

Harry ran as fast as his legs could run toward Minerva and reached only seconds before the darkness, which had spread up the wall and onto the floor, could take her. Harry, again, grabbed her hand and ran in the opposite direct of the second shadow, forgetting about the first that was now spreading past the nursery and into the very same hallway.

Harry spotted this and halted his sprint until the pair was standing in the middle of the two masses of darkness, which were relentlessly creeping toward them. Harry desperately searched for his wand, but found nothing. The darkness was getting closer and there was nothing that either of them could do about it.

Harry grabbed Minerva again and pulled her into his arms; wrapping her in a tight embrace. He closed his eyes and prayed that this was not real, that he would open his eyes to see his Professor smiling at him with love and trust.

A few moments passed and Harry felt nothing. All that he noticed was that Minerva's tears had stopped and that they were together; together and unharmed. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and released Minerva from his embrace and began to observe their surroundings.

The McGonagall mansion had disappeared; all that was left was darkness. Everything around them was empty, cold and dark. Harry figured that the shadow had transformed the room into this strange abyss but he could not figure out why. Harry was pulled out of his reverie by a very unexpected and unnerving noise; laughter. Minerva was laughing.

Harry returned his attention to Minerva, who looked at him with eyes filled with loathing, mockery and disgust.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," she stated sardonically, "are you _really_ confused about why you are here? Come on, really? You are? Now, I thought that you were smarter then that. Look around you darling, tell me, what do you see?"

"Professor, are you alright?" Harry questioned with confusion clear in his voice. His reply was a cocked eyebrow and a pair of eyes that insisted that he answer the question that had been posed to him. "You know what I see. I see nothing."

"AHA," Minerva yelled over Harry. "Exactly. You see nothing because there is nothing left to see, and it is all because of you. Yes, this is all _your_ doing." Minerva began to walk toward Harry; Harry remained stationary, listening intently with his face expressionless. "You are the force that will destroy everything and everyone that you love."

"That's not true," Harry uttered pathetically, "That's not true."

"Oh yes it is, and you know it deep down inside. Do you want me to tell you why Harry?" She took the expressionless gaze as a queue to continue. "It is not because you are evil, but because you are too _good_. If you didn't have to play the hero all of the time, a lot of the people who have died would be alive right now. You know it's true. Your righteousness will destroy _everything_."

All that Harry could do was shake his head back and forth in disbelief. As a matter of fact, he was starting to grow rather angry, which was exactly what the creature wanted.

"Think about it: Cedric, Sirius, your mother, your father and countless of other innocent lives were taken because Voldemort wants _you_ dead. No matter what you do, it all comes back to square one doesn't it?" Minerva questioned; she was standing right in front of him now.

Harry's anger was dangerously high. All of his life he had been told that it was not his fault, that he was not to blame, and now he was being told the opposite. He did not know what to believe. All that he knew was that Minerva, the woman who was supposed to protect and guide him, the women that he had grown to love and respect, was ripping him apart from the inside and he could no longer take it.

"So, Harry, what are you going to do about it?" Minerva questioned; she was so close, Harry could feel her breath on his face.

In a low and dangerously cold voice Harry whispered, "I'm going to get even." With that, Minerva smiled a devilish smile and then thrusted her arms into his torso. Harry buckled in pain; grabbing his stomach as the creature again filled him.

The real Minerva jumped back slightly as her young charge grabbed his abdomen in pain and let out another excruciating yell. The moment passed and Harry, again stood straight, breathing hard with his eyes closed.

"Harry," Minerva spoke cautiously.

"I'm going to get even," Harry stated callously and he lifted his eyelids to reveal two pits of pure darkness. "Starting with you," he growled at Minerva and he raised his hands towards her. A burst of energy erupted from Harry's palms and hit Minerva square in the chest; sending her body flying through the air and through the door behind her, which shattered from the horrific force. She hit the solid wall behind her and crumpled to the floor.

Dumbledore quickly ran to Minerva's side and began inspecting her wounds.

Harry's hands, again, flew to his face in pain but, in contrast to before, when he stood again his eyes were their normal color green. Harry blinked a few times and looked around in confusion. Suddenly, he remembered what he had done.

He rushed to Minerva's side and asked the Professor what was wrong with her. Dumbledore looked into Harry's eyes for a moment to insure that the creature had safely been expelled before he answered his question.

"Harry, the force that you produced alone caused severe damage to her let alone the fact that she had solid obstacles in her path when she was thrown backwards. Her pulse is dangerously weak. Madam Pomfrey would not be able to get here quick enough to help and my gifts do not stretch far enough into the realm of healing to be of any use either."

Harry looked from Dumbledore to Minerva, whose unconscious form seemed broken, and whispered, "what have I done?"

To Be Continued. . .

A/N: Hay guys, I loved writing this chapter. Please review, it really stimulated me and made me want to write more. Thank you all for reading :)


	25. Chapter 25: Waterfall of Pearls

RECAP: Harry looked from Dumbledore to Minerva, whose unconscious form seemed broken, and whispered, "what have I done?"

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"No, no, no, no, NO," Harry repeated in succession; each word growing in intensity and adamancy. "Professor, you're the greatest fucking wizard that ever lived, you have to be able to do something."

Harry was shaking; every muscle, every bone, every nerve, every molecular standing in his person was quaking as if everything he was and would be had been destroyed.

"Harry," Professor Dumbledore stated curtly, staring intently at the distorted body of his dear friend. "I need you to remain silent for a moment, there are a few things that I may be able to do. I need you to, please, go and wait for me in the main study while I attempt to aid her, there may still be time."

"No, professor, I can't just. . ."

"Harry, GO," Dumbledore bellowed. His eyes were not calm, his eyes were not clear; his eyes were filled with an intent passion; a passion that even Harry Potter knew must be left to its own quarry.

Harry reclaimed his position on his feet and swiftly made his way back to the main study.

Silence. Feet. Walking. Pacing. Breathing. Walking. Pacing. Breathing. Harry walked back and forth across the length of the room; seeing everything, yet accepting nothing. 'This can't happen, this can't happen,' Harry repeated to himself in a foe of comfort and appeasement.

"_Oh, yes it can, and yes it did," _a voice mocked the back of Harry's mind. _"This is what you are, this is what you have become. Death. Destruction. Disease."_

"Shut up," Harry whispered to himself urgently.

"_Death. Destruction. Disease. Admit it, you wanted her dead. She was a link, an unseverable connection to your past. She left you on that porch when you were a child just as Dumbledore did. She watched you grow with the pain, endure the immeasurable suffering, experience nightmares that would shake her very core; and she did nothing."_

" No. That's not true," Harry stated a slight more audibly. The words escaping his lips and vanishing into the thick abyss as quickly as the sound of his pacing, which had increased into a mad flurry of movement about the room. " She cares about me, I know she does. How could I do this to her? How could I hurt her?"

"_You did because you had to. Deep inside of you, you knew that she was slowly seeping into your heart, making sure that you had no escape. She never loved you, she needed you. How else could she get rid of me?_"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Harry repeated loudly, his fingers entangling themselves in his hair: twisting, tying, bonding him to the bitter thoughts reverberating through his mind with the thick strand of black silk.

"_Yes, yes, yesssss. You know who I am Harry, you have known all along. You cannot fight me, you cannot concur me, I am you. I am him. I am all. . .and I want her dead."_

"NO," Harry screamed as loud as he could, hoping that the ferocity would shut himself up, shut Voldemort up, shut the evil up.

The room began to darken, as if shades had been drawn to block out the ascending sun. The walls began to crack around him, slowly creaking until they hit the floor boards below them. The pages of the hundreds of books stacked ever so neatly upon their stationary shelves began to wither and fade as if Father Time stopped by to shake their hands with dust and age.

As Harry fell to his knees in distress, the tears began to flow from his eyes. One. Two. Three. Plop. Plop. Plop. The water drops rapidly made their way to the aged wood below them; darkened by the sadness and the remorse. As if it had been conjured, the ceiling above where Harry kneeled began to turn, twist and darken until it resembled that of a hovering rain cloud -- waiting to emit its solemn storm.

The water began to fall from above, drenching Harry, drenching the books, drenching the world around him. The wind outside began to howl and shriek as it smashed upon the side of the crime scene. The rain just poured and poured until the room, itself, began to feel the effects of its quantity. The room was flooding, and Harry didn't give a damn. He had murdered the only person who truly cared for him as if he were her own. He ripped the life from her body as he watched others rip his life from him. He was empty. He was. Cold. He was wet. He was alone.

"Harry," a soft voice called to him from across the room. Harry didn't care to look up. "Harry, please." The gentility of the voice slightly rekindled the flame of curiosity within Harry's mind as he turned his eyes to the door frame. Dumbledore stood in his sight, his eyes staring directly into Harry's, daring him to continue his outburst of pity, sadness and shame.

With a single swish from his wand, Dumbledore cleared the room of the water and slowly made his way toward his charge; who sat pitifully on his knees as if in prayer.

"Please, professor," Harry began softly, staring at his clasped hands, "please tell me she is going to be all right."

Silence.

"Professor?" Harry raised his eyes to inquire, but only met two orbs filled with a similar sadness that filled his own.

"Minerva's body was unable to control the aftereffects of the surge that fought its way into her body."

"NO," Harry shouted.

"She was able to disarm the first portion of the surge, but she was unable to stem the flow as it made its way from her mind, to her heart."

"No, no, no, no, NO, you old Bastard, NO!" Harry violently threw himself onto his feet and began pacing the room again "This can't be right. This isn't right, there has to be something, there just has to be." Harry charged at the books, still in their rotten stage of age and despair, and he began to tear through them; hoping to find something, anything that could help. "If I'm so god damn powerful, then why can't I help her?" Harry asked himself. "Why can't I heal her, why can't. . ."

Freeze. Stop. Pause. 'Why can't I heal her?' Harry asked himself silently.

"_Tsk, tsk, tsk, young Harry, have you not learned your own lesson? You said it yourself, 'I do not have enough faith, or love, to heal.' You're helpless. You could never love anyone because you know that they will never love you. You're faith has dissipated because everything you have hoped, dreamed and believed in has left you; poor baby. As for love, ha. Who could ever love you?"_

Harry stood there, a half crumpled piece of paper in his hands: thinking, listening, formulating. Suddenly, Harry shut the book, placed it exactly where he had found it and looked straight ahead with a sense of determination; "She could."

With the same confidence, he walked past Dumbledore, through the doorway and into the room that Minerva was placed in during the first attempt at healing. He got down on his knees beside the bed but, as he took time to actually look upon the unmoving form before him, his confidence began to waver. His mind was right; he could never do this. How was he going to heal her? It was such a ridiculous motion. How could he, Harry Potter, ever fathom putting life into something after everything he done?

"Because, you're right," Dumbledore stated at Harry's heels, as if he had read Harry's mind from behind. Harry looked up with overflowing eyes. "She does love you." For the first time in what seemed to be decades, Dumbledore's expression melted into one of soft understanding. "She loved you ever since she first laid eyes on you, Harry; and she always will. If anyone can help her," he stepped forward, sat upon his knees next to Harry, and placed his hand upon his shoulder, "It's someone who feels exactly the same way."

With a small wink and a single nod, Harry looked back at his professor, his friend, and gently grasped her hands, hoping for some sort of miracle.

Nothing.

Harry attempted to place his hand on her forehead, closed his eyes and concentrated.

Nothing.

With a stroke of confusion, Harry released Minerva's hand and just sat there, starring at her lifeless form. He looked at her face first. There were no jagged lined from disappointment or concentration. Her skin lay smooth and peaceful, like he saw after he realized that she was watching him make a fool out of himself while making breakfast that one morning; or as gentle as it was on his birthday, as she handed him his gifts with compassion.

He looked upon her hands and remembered how they were covered in flour after she failed to make his birthday cake. He saw that hand rubbing comforting circles on his back as he released the painful emotions that he had kept at bay for several torturous months.

He looked back up at her closed eyes, knowing that, underneath those eyelids, rests a pair of jewels: sharp, yet absolutely beautiful.

Before Harry knew what he was doing, he leaned forward and placed his hand upon her heart. He thought of how he comforted her on the anniversary of her son's death. He thought of the overwhelming flow of happiness and comfort he felt after he heard her confess that he was like a son to her. He thought of the care. He though of the trust. He though of the love.

With his eyes gently closed in the soft reminiscent state, Harry failed to notice the glowing white light that drifted beautifully from the outstretched palm of his hand and flowed into Minerva's chest like a waterfall of pearls and light.

Still at Harry's side, Dumbledore watched in an overwhelming state of pride as his Harry concurred his own self doubt and replenished the flame that he had just earlier put out. In slight awe, he witnessed his confidant, his colleague and his friend, come back to life.

The glow slowly diminished in luminosity until there was nothing left to see but the ever so slight bit of empty space residing between Harry's hand and Minerva's body. Harry's eyes slowly parted, letting the light of the room back in again, as well as another sight; instead of re-meeting two extinguished lids, Harry saw, once again, those eyes that he had become so attached to.

Minerva stared at Harry for a moment, not seeming to register the stark looks of surprise, happiness and shock she was receiving from both of the men at her bedside.

"Well, hello there," she stated with a tint of confusion.

"Hello there beautiful maiden," Dumbledore replied, beaming like the man on the moon during the end of its cycle.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on here?" She asked only to pause and recollect the night's happenings. "Oh, goodness, Harry, are you all right," she placed her hand on his cheek as if checking for a temperature. After a slight moment, she realized how inappropriate the gesture must have seemed and moved to pull her hand away, but Harry held her hand securely in place.

Minerva didn't need any verbal explanation or re-composition of what had transpired that evening. She saw it all in Harry's eyes. The loss, the regain, the hope, the relief and, most importantly, she saw the love.

They both smiled at each other, a genuine smile; one that requires no camera to be remember for years to come.

"Was that payback for me trying to kill you earlier, Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked playfully, moving her hand and pushing herself into the upright position.

"Oh, no, Professor,. . .I would never sink to your level!" Harry responded.

"You little jerk," Minerva picked up the pillow behind her and swung it as hard as she could, not considering the fact that Harry could, and did, duck out of the way, causing Professor Dumbledore to, what's the expression, 'eat feathers!'

"Oh Merlin, Albus, I am so sorry, I didn't. . ."

WACK.

Minerva was silence by a thick sheet of white from her left.

"Albus?" Minerva inquired with a growing smile.

A massive pile of fluffly, goose feathered pillows appeared beside the headmaster as a childish, yet oh-so-malicious grin spread wickedly across his features. This was Albus' game, and he wasn't going down without a fight.

Without warning, all three leapt at the pillows and began an all out war. It would not be surprising if the joyous laughter was heard through the entire block it was so boisterous. There was no pain, not thinking, no planning or training; there was just three individuals who were simply happy to be alive.

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The three playfully fought in their foe war, completely unaware of the happenings of a certain dark creature, with a certain pair of snake-like-eyes lurking, watching and laughing a laugh of equally malicious accomplishment.

"Oh, Harry, Harry, Harry, I knew you wouldn't let me down," Voledmort spoke, as he twirled his wand between his fingers and simply laughed.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


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